That is the Question
by seagulls n soap
Summary: Amy and Dan brought the Cahills together, but Grace warned of another family, the Vespers. Seconds tick by; the Cahills start to turn against each other, leaving Amy and Dan trying to pick up the pieces. Even together will the Cahills survive the rising?
1. Prologue

**I dont own 39 clues . . . . . .**

**I'm also sorry cause I deleted my old er . . . . . story, casue I forgot to put this in. **

**Ya know, I think the quote might be from Winnie the Pooh, cause when i typed in Winnie the pooh Quotes, this popped up, but. . . . it just doesn't sound like Winnie the Pooh.**

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_"I used to believe in forever, but forever was to good to be true" -unknown_

The door stood wide open, trying to stand on just its hinges, beckoning unwanted visitors. Scratch that, it had already welcomed unwanted visitors, and it wasn't even open. She stepped through the sad looking door and surveyed the rest of the house. It wasn't much better than the door, in fact, the door didn't look so bad anymore. She could make out overturned tables that had lost some of its legs. Plates and cups were shattered and spilled onto the floor. Looking down at her feet, she sighed. She would need to find some shoes soon. Maybe she could call one of her children, if they were still here and not badly hurt.

"Luke! Jane! Thomas!" she raised her voice. "Katherine!" No one came running down. If they were still children, they would have run down those stairs that creaked, screaming "Mommy!" and she would laugh. They wouldn't care if they were stepping though a pile of nails, as long as she was at the end. Then, she would rinse out their feet at that pathetic fountain Gideon called a well, and she would tell them it was ok. But for some reason, she felt as if they were growing apart, her and all of her children. Maybe it was because they had found out she was pregnant with another kid. That's impossible. No one knew she was pregnant, not even her husband. So if they would have walked through a house full of nails, then she would walk through a house full of glass. It was like walking through a death trap, except the death trap was her house.

Upstairs, the hallway looked fine. Pictures still hung on the walls, plants were in vases that stood on tables. The hallway had several doors, all of them shut except the one that led into Katherine and Jane's room. Inside, Jane stood hovering over Katherine, looking at whatever she was working on.

"Hello mum." Jane bit her lip.

"Jane," Olivia began. She didn't know what to say, finally, she settled on "What happened here?" Olivia crossed her arms, trying to give then a motherly look. She wanted answers, and that was something she hadn't been getting for a long time.

"I don't know. "Jane looked uncomfortable. She shifted on one leg and back to the other, and then started rocking back and fourth. If Olivia thought that Jane looked uncomfortable, when she looked on Katherine's face, it was pale, and clear balls of sweat had started to drip down her forehead. Katherine had always been the truthful one. Olivia tried to bite back at images of her children, when they were younger, that were forming in her head. _What is happening to us? _She thought. Katherine continued to stare at her mother, biting her lip like Jane until blood started rolling down her chin. She was hiding something. They were _all _hiding something.

"M-m-men c-c-c . . . . . "Katherine was cut off by Jane's cry, a cry of pain. She had bitten to far into her lip, and blood had started to fall onto her chin like Katherine, except it was flowing faster, and dripping onto the wooden floor below her.

"Oh my!" Olivia's motherly instincts took over, and any seed of mistrust had vanished, at least for now. She rushed to her daughter's side, took out a handkerchief and started to dab Jane's bleeding lip. They were her children after all.

"Mother," Katherine started again. Jane's glares of hatred and betrayal flashed at Katherine, but Katherine remained loyal to her mother. "Men came. They were hunting for something in father's office room. They trashed the whole place up."

"Did they find anything?" Olivia asked.

"No" Olivia sighed. If Katherine had spoken the truth, then they had nothing to worry about. Not yet at least. Luke and Thomas chose this time to barge into the room.

"Hey Katherine, Jane! Look wha-wha- . . . ." She had never heard Luke shout like that. Actually, she had never seen Luke and Thomas run like that. Never. Well, maybe Luke, but not Thomas. And she had never seen such a grin on their faces. "Mother." Luke said and grinned. One of his grins that stretched from one side of his face to the other, the ones that made girls fall to his feet and bow down to him. But, unlike Luke, Thomas did not seem so trilled to see her. His expressing matched the one on Jane's face. _Anger. Hatred. But also . . . . . fear. _

"I should go." Olivia hastily rushed out, she had a plan to set into motion. Olivia had watched her children grow up since they were born, and she knew them all by heart. She knew that they would close the door so that they could speak in private. She also knew that the boys voices would be way to loud, making the door disappear enough so she could hear. She also knew there was something going on.

Thomas shut the door. Then locked it. They had absolutely no idea there mother was only a few inches from the doorway. Their voices grew inside the room.

"Found what. . . . . .men were looking . . . in . . .workshop. Hidden under . . . . looks. . . .like . . a . . . . . " Jane's hushed Luke, cutting him off mid-sentence, "Anyways, now if we . . . . .just a sip . . . . it may give us. . . . what the men . . . .looking . . . . "

Jane had had enough. "Well? Where is it!" she demanded.

"Pocket." Olivia didn't want to hear anymore. They had found whatever the men were looking for, and if they had found it from Gideon's workshop, it was probably something that they were not supposed to find. _What is happening to them? To me? To our family . . . . _

Olivia rushed down to her husband's workshop. The door had been blasted off and thrown yards away. Katherine had been right. The room was a mess. Books were scattered, their pages ripped out. Glasses were broken on the floor; liquids that Olivia couldn't name were dripping off of desks, books, jars, and onto the floor. But the worst part was the huge engraving on one side of the wall. Roughly engraved into the wall, read the words "Vespers."


	2. Chapter 1 Amy

**changed it. no more cry baby Ian!**

**Hey, thank you to whoever reviewed my first chapter. Sorry if it was kind of boring, I'm very new to fanfiction. Please tell me if I'm doing anything wrong, because I need all the help I can get. **

**Question-do we really need to do this: I do not own 39 clues, everytime we sumit a new chapter, because some of the stories I've read had it, some don't.**

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"_Reachin' for the phone 'cause I can't fight it anymore  
And I wonder if I ever cross your mind  
For me it happens all the time" –Need You Now, Lady Antebellum,_

_Mrs. Brinns must be the world's most boring teacher. _Amy thought, _and I have to be stuck with her. _Amy had never found sitting in a classroom listening to a teacher talk boring, in fact, she actually enjoyed listening. Well, until she met Mrs. Brinns. Mrs. Brinns was a horribly mean and boring teacher, a disciplinarian who thought that algebra was the best thing in the world. To Amy, reading was, because you could get lost in a book, and it would be perfect. There would be no "what if I did this instead?" it would be one clear, straight ending. But Mrs. Brinns was a whole different story.

_R-r-ring! _The bell! Finally! Amy leaped out of her seat, already packed and rushed out of the room. The hallways quickly became a dangerous place, and before, Amy would have been knocking into people and dropping her books all over the floor, but the clue hunt must have done something to her, because she made it to her locker without spilling her books on the floor or tripping. While she was still opening her locker, a piece of small, white paper came fluttering out and landed on by her shoes. Looking to see if anyone noticed, Amy picked it up, and read the note.

**Hey Amy,**

**I know you wanted to finish reading your stupid book. (Really, readings stupid) But I thought we could you know, hang out later?**

Warren's boyish handwriting made her want to gag; he made her want to gag. Ever since she had come to school, Warren had been at her heels. She didn't know what he saw in her, cause she diffidently didn't see anything in him. He was a gorgeous guy, with straight black hair and caramel colored eyes, and both his ears were pierced. But worst of all, he _hated _reading. For some strange reason, she hadn't really thought about boys any more, ever since a certain cousin had left her. Sure, lots of guys had asked her out, and she nicely tried to decline them. Most of them had gotten her message, but for some strange reason, Warren hadn't taken the clue. Ripping the letter into shreds and dumping them into the trashcan nearby, Amy made her way to her next class, English.

If she had to get a good grade in something, she wanted it to be English. Amy sat down relatively near the front, and started to unpack her books.

"Hey." Taking a seat next to her was Warren, dressed in his usual black leather jacket and grey shirt.

"Hello, Warren," She tried to act casual but failed, her voice coming out sharp instead of the girlish tone she had wanted, "How was your weekend?" Amy zoned him out, because she truthfully didn't care.

"Well, I had a basketball game, and we won. I scored half the points, the other team. . .what the freak?" He had shoved the desk out of his way and made his way to read the black bored. "She freakin wrote that we have to read! What the. . . . ."Mrs. McAdam had entered the room and was frowning at Warren, her arms were crossed, and she didn't look to happy. She had her hair tightly pulled back in a bun, with hairs flying out everywhere, and under her eyes were purple bags. Warren quickly took his seat next to Amy, not saying another word.

"Yes, as Warren pointed out we do have . . . . " Mozart quickly floated into the room from an unknown speaker. Kids were glancing around the room, trying to make out whose cell phone it belonged too. _Mozart, in the clue hunt, one of the clues was hidden in the song. . . .Mozart. Mozart! _This was her ringtone! Trying to unzip her backpack, Amy fumbled with zippers and pouches, until she found her phone and reached to turn it off. She read the screen. Ian. Ian was calling her. How had he even gotten her number?

"Mrs. McAdam, may I please take this call?" She asked. She didn't know why, but she desperately wanted to hear his British accent again. Mrs. McAdam groaned and pointed out the door and into the hallway. Jumping out of her seat, she dashed out of the classroom and hit talk.

"Hello-"

"Amy!" Ian's voice thundered through the phone, so loudly that Amy had to pull the phone away from her ear. "Amy! I'm coming to your school right now! You have to help me!"

"Ian. Wait, Ian, if you're gonna talk to me, try and stop screaming ok, like right now. Ian . . . ." Ian started mumbling on the other end of the phone, to fast for Amy to decipher. "Ok. Wait ― Stop screaming and tell me what happened!"Amy demanded.

"Well, Natalie's gone! They took her, right from under me!" Amy could have sworn her classmates could hear him now, because a lot of them were looking her way through the open door, there eyebrows raised.

"All right . . . . come here as fast as you can to umm . . . . my school." Amy gave in and ended the call. Trying to ignore the stares that were directed to her, sat back down in her seat next to Warren.

"Who's the looser?" Warren whispered in her ear, so close that she could feel his breath. She didn't want to respond, so she pretended not to hear and continued to listen to Mrs. McAdam's lectures on not doing homework. _Natalie. . . .missing? How, why? Isabelle's in jail, it's not her, well, what about Cora? No. . . . Jonah would of said something by now, at least called and warned us. The Holts? No . . .They where friends with us now, Sinead and her brothers promised to stay low for a while, no, no, no! _Amy continued to rack her brains with the possibilities on who could have kidnapped Natalie, each one leaving her more even more confused, and less sure that her relatives were really on her side. _Dan. I need to talk to Dan, right away. _

By the time class was done, Amy was out of possibilities and she hadn't heard a word Mrs. McAdam had said the whole time. Ignoring Warren's calls, pushing and shoving into other people, not bothering to tell them she was sorry, Amy ran until she had reached the house where she and Dan were staying. Opening the door with the key around her neck, Amy called Dan's name, and hearing no response, she continues to scream and scream and scream, until her voice hurt and she couldn't scream any longer. _Dan? Was he gone too?_

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A:N

you made it this far . . . so . . . read and review!


	3. Chapter 2 Amy

_**Short Chapter for now . . . . **_

_** ok. i've been reading many of your reviews and many of you were surprised to find Ian crying. I guess what I pictured when I saw him crying (read right to veiw the spoiler ahead -) was how like, scared Natalie and Ian were and they were holding each others hands. Cause they only needed one Lucian. (ok, so they weren't crying scared, or peeing in pants scared, but hey, they love each other.) **_

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"Now it all seems so clear, there's nothing left to fear  
So we made our way by finding what was real  
Now the days are so long that summer's moving on  
We reach for something that's already gone, yeah" - _September_, Daughtry

_Amy ran until she had reached the house where she and Dan were staying. Opening the door with the key around her neck, Amy called Dan's name, and hearing no response, she continues to scream and scream and scream, until her voice hurt and she couldn't scream any longer. _Dan? Was he gone too?

It took all of Amy's strength not to start wailing as she had heard Ian earlier in the day, so she sat down on their black leather couch, threw her head back and sighed, in and out, trying to calm her mixed emotions. Rage boiled somewhere inside of her and her breaths started to come out faster and faster, louder and louder. But then, there was also emptiness, like a part of her was missing and that she had to find it at all costs. She and Dan had been through so much in the past few months, wait, maybe even longer. Ever since Isabelle had killed their parents, Dan was the one that she had trusted and relied on. Sure, he could be very annoying, but he was her little brother. Sigh. Crystal colored tears suddenly started to glide down her cheeks, now a scarlet color from all her crying. Amy's crying turned quickly turned into sobs, her vision blurred from tears. _Is this how Ian felt? _She wondered. _Hm . . . .it had been funny hearing Ian crying like that, because it was so unlike him. _She tried to smile at her pathetic joke, but her muscles wouldn't respond and her body hurt so much for some reason. _It must be the crying, or from running all the way from school. _

Amy was slowly drifting off into sleep when suddenly a huge knock came from the door. _Oh no! What if their coming for me too! Amy. This is not the time to panic; Dan's captures might be right outside the door, and . . . . and . . . _Amy took a deep breath and tried to come up with a plan. _Maybe, if I let them take me, it they'll take me right to where they were holding Dan! Yes, that will work, and we'll escape together and warn Nelly. _

Grinning with confidence, Amy walked to the door, her shoes squeaking on the hard wooden floor. She unlatched the latch she had hurriedly put on, and opened the door. Standing there was . . . . .Dan?

"Hey, you know I can't get in with that thing bolting the door?" He said, walking inside, unaware of his sister's distress that had taken place moments ago.

"Dan!" Amy ran forward and threw her arms around his neck and hugged him in a massive bear hug. "I was so worried. Dan, where have you been?"

"Didn't I tell you that I was going to get some ice cream in that store that opened a few blocks away from school?" He shrugged, "Maybe I forgot, sorry, but their ice cream is wicked! Have you seen all their flavors! It's heaven for fat people," he said rubbing his stomach, "and well, me."

Amy withdrew her arms from around his neck, giving her best big-sister-glare she could make, she screamed "I thought you were kidnapped along with Natalie! You err . . . . frustrate me so badly . ."

"Hey," Dan said soothingly, "I'm sorry that I forgot to get you ice cream, maybe . . . wait. . .Natalie's missing!" His mouth flew open in shock. "You mean Natalie who likes to shoot darts at our head? Natalie, Ian's little brat sister? Or the Natalie that lives a few blocks down with all those freckles and thick glasses, the one that thinks I'm hot, which one, because I would really appreciate it if Natalie-that-thinks-I'm-hot disappeared, but the other one. . ." He shrugged.

"The other one you dweeb, Ian called this afternoon, crying, really unlike him. He said he was coming over because he wants us to help find her, he should be hear by what? One o'clock tomorrow? Which bedroom should he stay in, maybe that guess room, but it still smells like paint." For some reason, she wanted to show Ian that their house was neat, clean, and Cahill material.

"Ian was crying! This is amazing! Whoever kidnapped Natalie must have done something horrible to make the Cobra cry!" He threw his arms up, and then started to laugh. "Oh no, what's mum gonna say when she hears little Ian crying?" He mimicked, laughed even harder.

"This is serious Dan, concentrate!" Amy scowled. Why did she have to be the _only _serious one around here? Well, Nelly was ok. . . . . "Ok. Where should he stay? Wait, I'm going to have to go to the market, and oh no, did you spill your pudding again, Dan. How old are you, two?"

"For your information, I cleaned up that mess, and second, Ian could sleep with you?" He shrugged, "Or maybe-"

"How dare you say that he's sleeping with me?"Amy shouted, pointing her finger at Dan, "How dare you!"

"Ok, JK, JK, JK! I'm sorry, ok? Wow, why so mad all of the sudden?" He smiled, knowing he had struck a nerve, or at least burst the last button. Amy's face grew bright red, and she started to think of the one kiss she had shared with Ian, and then how he had locked her, Dan, and Uncle Alistair in a cave to _die_.

"Dan. I'm going to the market would you like anything?" Amy was trying to change the subject, but Dan was already prancing and jumping around the house singing at the top of his lungs, "Amy and Ian sitting in a tree! K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"

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A/N: BTW-there is not going to be any people sleeping with each other nonsense, so have no fear!

Arn't you excited! There's another 39 clues book coming out! (not the black secrets one) but the Vespers rising! I can't wait, so when I buy it, and there isn't a Ian/Amy moment, I'm going to throw the book out the window! But if there is one, I'll be happy. CAN'T WAIT! :)


	4. Chapter 3 Ian

updated!

Sorry, this chapter took a long time. Hmmm . . . . first, I woud like to thank the reviewers, the people who faved this, and the readers. It makes my life very happy.

**BTW: Some very mild violence. Very little, well sorta. Some fighting but I didn't go into details so no worries!**

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_"But if I had you, that would be the only thing I'd ever need _  
_Yeah if I had you, then money fame and fortune never could compete" –If I had you, Adam Lambert_

Ian's plane slowly lifted off the ground, its engines thundering, causing more ruckus than Ian had wanted. He had planed to take off secretly or at least without everyone knowing, but the noise was allowing everyone to know that he was leaving London.

When the plane was safely in the air, the seatbelt light flashed off, and Ian had taken that time to call Amy. He sounded horrible; it was the first time he had dared to talk since Natalie was taken. Scratchy, almost unrecognizable and loud, Ian had tried to tell Amy the details, but his voice came out in screams, and the weeks events crashed down on him. He thought he may end up crying if Amy had not disconnected their call. In the end, she had sounded annoyed, which was strange for Amy. Once she had hung up, Ian leaned back on his chair and let it recline all the way back so he was staring up at the white sealing. Ian had taken his own plane, not thinking about the risks afterwards. It was a small white plane, the inside decorated with strange patterns, something Natalie had insisted and his father had disapproved. He sighed. He couldn't even fly to Boston without worrying about something. Everywhere, he was always looking over his shoulders, making sure he wasn't being followed, and never daring to trust anyone for they may be a spy. The flight attendant came in with a tray of food; on it some roasted potatoes, grilled chicken, and cherries.

"Is there anything else you may want?" She asked, setting his food down on the table in front of him. "Maybe a drink, we have sprite, coca-cola, maybe water?"

"No thank you." Waving her off, he picked up the grilled chicken and took a bit out of it. _Maybe eating will help me. _He thought. Disgusting_! This chicken is cold! _

"Hey, waitress, flight attendant, what ever you want to be called, this thing," he pointed at his plate, "is disgusting. Take it away and do something to it. Heat it up maybe, I don't care." Frustrated, hurt, maybe even betrayed from his past events, Ian reclined his chair again, and stared at the sealing. Natalie had been taken because of his carelessness. Right under his nose. They had been at the mall; Natalie had wanted to go looking for some new black boots she had seen in a magazine, and Ian had wanted to get the next Halo to add to his collection of video games. They had fought, screamed, and yelled at each other, finally deciding to go separately, and meet back at their house when they were done. Minutes after separating from Natalie, he had heard screams, turning around he saw that some men, wearing all black jumpsuits, were running away with an unconscious Natalie in their arms. He was to far away to reach them, and two many people were in the way to have a clear path to Natalie and her captures. By the time he had pushed his way through the crowd, they were out of sight. The next day, he found a letter to him from some people called the Vespers, demanding things in return for Natalie that he wasn't sure he could give them. Uncertainly started to settle inside of him again.

"Excuse me . . . "The flight attendant was back, along with his food. Ian had been so deep in thought that he hadn't noticed her approaching his seat. She had set the food down on the table, along with a knife and fork. "If there is anything you need please just tell me." Smiling, she started to depart. "Oh and there is also some drinks . . . . "

"Get out! I should sue you for even bothering me!" He screamed. The flight attendant quickly turned and entered the servants' cabin.

Ian turned to look out of the window. Wispy, pink clouds had started to settle in the sky, along the sun's orange light. Together, the colors made the sky actually looked beautiful. Ian continued to stare out the plane window for a long time, thinking, or at least trying to pass the time to Boston, where Amy would be waiting for him. Outside, he noticed that there was a small, black object heading towards them. Squinting, Ian could make out a small black jet.

"Pilot, Pilot!" Ian yelled. "There's something headed towards us! I think it's a jet!" Ian didn't have time to know if the pilot had heard him, because at that instinct, something landed on the roof of the plane, making a loud _thud _sound.

"P-pilot . . . . Great." _Stuttering?_ _Again!_ _This is bad. FLO. That's exactly what this is. It's from hanging out with those rotten Americans Amy and Dan to much, or maybe from watching too much of those talk shows._ Suddenly, the door of the plane flew open and off its hinges, flying into the sky. "Err . . . .pilot?" Ian began, but then never bothered to hear the response because at that moment a tall, lanky girl decided to step through the damaged door. She was dressed in all black, straight black hair, black jumpsuit, and black combat boots, ones that looked exactly like the kinds Natalie had been searching for the day she was taken. For the slightest instinct, Ian wondered if he could knock the girl out and steal her shoes, so when he's reunited with Natalie he could give them to her, and hope she would forgive him, but that thought had come to him before the strange girl took out a long sword, a sword someone like the Joan of Arc would use. If she hadn't broken into his airplane, drove some jet here, and wasn't holding some sword at him, Ian would of classified her as one of those Goth kids at school, but she had done all those things, meaning she wasn't some ordinary person. _Probably a spy from father. Yes, that was probably who she was. _Ian said to himself, trying to calm his beating heart, which was beating so fast, Ian worried it might burst.

"You're Ian Kabra?" She threw her head back and laughed. "You're the mighty son of Vikram Kabra?" She continued to laugh, a sound that might have come from angels, but Ian knew this was no angel.

"Well, _Ian,_" she said his name slurred, like a drunken person, but more threatening, "This is a nice plane you err . . . have. Where you flying? To your girlfriend in Boston? What about that Korean dude, the old man with the cane. Or, what about that big daddy you have? What about him. I heard he wished you weren't his son. You and that girl . . . ." Ian could tell she was just begging to tell him something, her smile convinced him of that.

"Where is Natalie?" Ian demanded. "Where are you holding her?"

"You poor hot boy, you shouldn't be worried about your sister, she is in good hands with us. She's being treated better than she should be." The girl in black looked angry as she said that. "But you, you're gonna be treated . . . ._ painfully._ Let's just say that every blow you take, your sister gets a new pair of shoes. So you'll be treated horribly, in exchange for your sisters, _nice _treatment. . . . I have a feeling that I just scored a point against life."

The girl charged forward, her sword in hand, and took a swing at Ian, but by the time her blade reached where he had been sitting, Ian had jumped over the chair and was now behind it. The sword cut through the leather seat.

"Hey, careful"Ian screamed. She was ruining _his _plane.

"I'm not trying to be careful. Just stay still so I can have my revenge." She screamed, jumping over the chair and taking another swing at Ian, but by then, Ian was already at his duffle bag and searching for Natalie's dart gun.

"Where is it, where is it, here!" Ian turned around and shot the gun, aiming wildly and missing by feet. "Shoot." He mumbled to himself. He shot again, but the girl ducked and was already swinging for her next blow. Ian backed up and the plane shook, leaving her unbalanced, and she stumbled and fell, crashing down on several seats and a table.

"Darn you. I should have knocked out the pilot."She murmured, loud enough for Ian to hear but probably to herself. "Let's get this over _Ian._" Standing up, she threw one of the seat cushions at Ian, causing him to duck out of the way, but by the time his vision came into focus again, she had lunged towards him, causing him to back up against one of the planes sides. She held the sword to his throat, and asked him if he had any last words.

"You'll never get away with this. Amy and Dan, or someone else will find you whoever you are." Ian tried to sound strong, but his voice came out scratched up, his winced as she brought the sword closer to his neck.

"That's what they all say." She smiled, one of those victory smiles, and then . . . . fell backwards? _Yes, that's exactly what had happened._ Ian thought. _Maybe she tripped, or it turns out I'm a Jedi and I have the force._ The girl had stumbled back when she was hit on the head by a large try, ones that waiters used to carry food. Standing next to her was the waitress he had screamed at earlier.

"Ugh!" The girl in black screamed, swinging the sword and the unsuspecting waitress. Only having a moment to step back, the sword slashed through part of her arm, causing her to scream from the pain. Ian was still frozen in shock to move or do anything.

"You're next." The girl started to move towards Ian, when static and some mumbled voices appeared from the girl's communication device at her belt.

"Carrie!" It screamed."Carrie! What are you doing? You weren't supposed to attack anyone." The device started to scream.

"Ugh . . . fine. I'm leaving now." Carrie turned off the communication device and turned to Ian and the flight attendant. "The Vespers are rising, Ian. Prepare yourselves for the impact." With that, she walked towards the planes exit and jumped out, her sword still in her hand. Carrie extended her arms and legs, and releasing a parachute, she glided off into the orange, pink sky.

"Such a dramatic exit." The waitress said, cradling her wounded arm.

"I know."_I have to get to Amy and Dan before these Vesper people do something even worse. _Ian thought grimly. _And then I have to get Natalie back at any cost._


	5. Chapter 4 Carrie

**people were all like whoa . . . .theres some girl trying to beat up Ian and is talking all crazy! Is she mental? No. She is not mental. this chapter should explain everything, and if it dosent tell me and i'll do somethign about it.**

**ok. now let us begin. **

**one, someone said that i should have someone beat up that William Mc. . .. something. If no one can give me a good enough reason why he should not get beaten up, I would like to hear it, and if someone could give me a reason why he should get beaten up, I wold like to hear it. **

**two, im going to Sacramento for this wedding thing, so I won't have time to update or work on anything next weekend. Then the weekend after that I have a camp. So I might use those upcoming weeks to fix up the chapters I already have.**

**third, this chapter might be a little confusing, cause I have flashbacks. Flashbacks are _Italic. _Regular lines are just that . . .regular.**

**four, introducing more Vespers, Annie and Jeff. Oh, and the person on the walkie talkie thing last chapter was Annie. **

**five, sorry for the spelling and grammer mistakes. I shall have to work on it.**

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_"A long, long time ago...  
I can still remember  
How that music used to make me smile."- American Pie, Don McLean  
_

_Failure._ That's all Carrie was good at. That's all she had been doing for the last eight years.

_**Flashback**_

_"We have to leave." Sturdy hands picked her up from her soft and desirable bed and placed her in her mother's careful arms. _

_"Where are we going daddy?" A seven year old Carrie asked her father. _

_"Hopefully, somewhere far away."_

_**End Flashback**_

Carrie stared at the sealing, counting cracks it, trying to pass the time. It was raining outside, drops of water dribbled down from the roof of the building; lightning and thunder bickered at each other out in the distance. Lightning flashed, brightening up the small room. Carrie didn't own much, just a few things here and there, a bed, and desk, one of those lamps that are supposed to be put on nightstands by beds. She didn't care about a lot of her possessions, except for a picture of her family the High Chief had given her. It was the only picture she had of them. Well, she had some of her little brother and sister, but not her parents. One_, two, three, four, five, six. . . seven. . . _thunder roared outside, somewhere, seven miles away. Carrie got up from her bed and exited the room. She wanted to have a talk with Annie.

_**Flashback**_

_The family of five ran, light footsteps that seemed to never make contact with the ground. Her parent's expressions told Carrie that something was wrong. Their mouths formed a straight line, their lips pressed together. _

_"Mommy . . ." Carrie began, quickly silenced by her father, running to the left of her. They were running through the Kabra mansion. It was a big, three story house with paintings and balconies and everything Carrie had ever wanted, she had come close to getting it too, they had lived in the house for more than four years now, her mother, father, and her little brother and sister, Kate and Kale._

_Carrie had loved it there; she always had a friend to play with. Sometimes, she would play with that kid, the self-centered one. The son of the boss her father worked for. They would always sneak out of the house to gather toads and frogs, and then they would hide it where unsuspecting servants might look. They had seen it done in movies they weren't supposed to be watching, and in the end, both the movies and the privilege to scare the servants was taken away from them. She had almost gotten her father fired from the work, and had promised never to do it again. She didn't see the boy that often anymore, but that was ok, for he had a little sister that Carrie loved to nurse. She would lead her to the garden outside, his little sister holding on tightly to her smallest finger with one hand, and in her other hand would always be some toy her father had bought her. But then, she two had grown away, their friendship turning into little grains of sand, its only purpose to be blown away by the wind. _

_**End Flashback**_

Carrie knocked, banging on the door louder then necessary.

"Dude, Annie, hurry up already." Carrie screamed at the door, still hearing no reply. Carrie kicked it in frustration, and wished that everything would just go away, including the chilling memories of her childhood. Shaking her head, she walked down the narrow passage of the underground layer the Vespers had built. It was a shabby place, nothing there to look at but doors, leading to more hallways with more doors, and rooms. If Carrie had not spent half of her life here, or anytime at all, she would have been hopelessly lost, asking for directions to anyone who passed by, but unfortunately, the only people who walked in these hallways were guards, armed with guns and swords, keeping out those pesky Cahill's or anyone else who might find themselves in the hallways.

"You knocked?" Carrie spun around, finding herself faced to face with Jeff, a tall, lanky teen, the last person she wanted to see today. While Annie was calm and soothing, Jeff was the exact opposite; he was too loud and too annoying, too self-confident and stuck up. His body matched him too, he was tall, maybe six feet, Carrie had never bothered to ask or measure, dull black hair that covered his forehead and the tips of his eyes, he wasn't muscular, but could probably do a hundred pull-ups. His face was covered in acne around his nose, and he had some strange sent that lingered around him that didn't smell good or bad.

"I knocked, but not for you. I was knocking on Annie's door, BTW."

"Sure. Fine, suit yourself. Oh, and incase you didn't hear, Annie's at a meeting with the High Chief dude." He smirked, two dimples forming beside his mouth. "He's probably going to keep you at base for a while, so you can't fight with your boyfriend."

"Ian is notmy boyfriend. I would rather die than hold hands with my parent's _killers_, Jeff."

"You sure?"

"Positive."

"Fine." He shrugged. "Hey, when you find Annie, tell her I'm looking for her." He smiled one last time and walked off.

"Ugh!" Carrie tried to shiver, just to emphasize the moment.

"You need to work on that." Annie had crept up on her, again. "I tell if you were trying to shiver or do some funky dance moves." Annie smiled at her own joke. Like Jeff she was taller than Carrie, maybe five-three or something, black-brown hair and tanned skin, making Carrie wonder if she really was Asian like Annie claimed to be. For some strange reason Annie could speak French, Spanish, English, you name it, but not Chinese, Mandarin or Cantonese. She was super skinny for her height, and refused to wear a jacket. Even thought it was pouring rain outside, Annie had refused to wear a jacket, and would rather freeze than wear something "unfashionable", which Carrie found hilarious and ridicules.

"You need to work on your jacket problem too." She pointed at Annie, jacketless as usual.

"Will do, mate." Annie saluted. "Oh and by the way Grand Chief wants you to know your umm . . .lets see, how should I put this. Well, you're sorta on break. You're not allowed to go on any missions, not even to the grocery store, even though that's not really a mission, or you know, and like, with that Natalie girl here, the Chief doesn't want you in the same building as her, considering what you almost did to her brother and. . . . ."

"Annie, I get it."

"Oh yeah, and they are err . . . . sending you away for a few days." Carrie looked at Annie like she was crazy. "Oh, and they want to send you to the base in the U.S, you know, the one in Montana or something. Or was it Minnesota? No . . . .You know, it doesn't matter. Carrie, it's only going to be for a few days, I mean, come on, you're the best spy the Vespers have, and you blow that by I don't know, attacking the son of Vikram Kabra? You ―" she pointed her finger at Carrie, then made eye contact with her. "You, you blew it! We were supposed to launch a surprise attack or something, and then you go barging in without permission and with your sword you start trying to chop him up like a fruit or something . . . ."She threw her hands up into the air. "What is wrong with you? I would do anything to be you! I mean, you have everything. The Chief even likes you! You had the whole world; you could have anything you wanted, in the whole freaking world!" Annie screamed. Carrie glanced around hoping no one had heard.

"You don't want to be me Annie," Carrie tried to break it down to her friend, slowly and gently, "I've seen and experienced what no kid should ever have to see." Carrie slumped on the wall, memories flooding down on her like a waterfall, pictures, images, voices that she was once too little to understand. But she understood now, she understood everything. "Cause once it happens, once you see something unforgettable, you don't forget it, Annie, and it becomes like a tape, that plays back in your dreams, daydreams, and usually they don't go away."

"So your life is a hard, torturous . . . . thing? You are way too dramatic, Carrie."

_Annie doesn't get it._ Carrie thought._ She didn't loose everything the way I did. She didn't see her parents get murdered right before her very eyes._

_

* * *

_

A/N:

hmm . . . nothing really to say. I guess read a review?


	6. Chapter 5 Dan

**ok. let us begin**

**This thing is being so frusterating. I downloaded the thing/document, and all my italic words went regular(not italic), and all my regular words suddenly became italic. confusing, i know. **

* * *

_I've learned that people will forget what you said,_

_people will forget what you did,_

_but people will never forget how you made them feel._

_-Unknown_

_Almost there, almost there . . . . . _Dan attempted to control his excitement that was building up in his chest. It's sold! Dan jumped out of his chair and pushed it back, so hard it fell on its back and onto the floor. He pounded his fist to his chest, stood as proudly as a man would stand next to his flag on a recent battle victory. Dan, filled with excitement, raced out of the room and into the kitchen, opening the freezer for the millionth time and took out a jug of mint chocolate chip ice cream.

It was then he noticed that no one else was in the kitchen besides him. No Amy and no Nellie. He would have to wake them up to tell them the good news. Setting down the carton of ice cream, Dan pranced up the stairs, and bounced into Amy's dark room. There was light streaming in from an open window next to Amy's bed, along with a humongous spider. It was hanging dangerously low, maybe a few feet from Amy's head. Dan grinned. He wanted to wake Amy up by dangling the spider right above her face, and then maybe he'll get a reaction, but decided against it. He would just kill it with a napkin later.

"Amy," Dan said, jumping onto her bed and throwing her covers off, "Amy, wake up!" Amy slowly opened her eyes; a nice jade color that Dan was sure their cousin Ian would die for. "Wake up Amy. Ian's outside. Said he came earlier because he wanted to see you again. Has a bunch of roses, they smell pretty nice too. Oh, and Nellie's already downstairs making pancakes and layering them with syrup, you want pancakes, right Amy? Pancakes and Ian?" Amy attempted to throw Dan off her bed, but failed, still trying to wake up from the nights sleep.

"Ian and what? Pancakes? Oh. Ok, Dan, just let me sleep, tell Ian I'll be down in a few minutes. . . . ." Amy was already asleep on her bed.

"Amy! Wake up! I need to tell you something!" Dan jumped on his sisters back so he was sitting with his legs on either side. "Amy get your butt of this bed right now!" Dan screamed. By the time he heard Amy tell him to be quiet again; Nellie was leaning on the door frame with dark bags under her eyes from coming home so late at night. The Madrigals had been working her so hard with the recent Vesper activities, Nelly had only been getting a couple hours of sleep each night. Today was a Friday, one of her few chances to actually get some sleep, and he had blew it by screaming so loud the whole world could hear. Her short hair was flying everywhere; pieces were falling onto her face from bangs she didn't bother to cut anymore. Half of her hair was a blond color, another red, and the last part black.

"Dudes, what are you doing?" Nellie asked. Dan quickly forgot about waking up Nellie and began to tell her everything.

"You see, I made this account on this website and it's like an auction thing. There was this guy and he was auctioning this cool ninja sword! It's grey, and there's this cool red dragon on it, and the handle is all gold looking! The best part was, the other bidders only bid about twenty bucks, and then thirty, and then the bids started going up by fives, then ones, and it was so funny! So I just bid five hundred bucks to get this over with, and the guy sold it to me!" Dan took a bow.

"Dan." Amy had gotten up while he was speaking and was hovering over his lap top that he had brought into her room. She had probably heard everything they were talking about, but that didn't stop Dan from telling the story again.

"So did you hear―"Amy quickly cut him off.

"Dan, the reason the bids weren't that high is because the sword is plastic. Did you even read the description? It says right here, made in China, no, blah, blah, blah, here. Made of plastic, that's why the guy quickly sold it to you. Dan," she yawned, "Dan, the ninja sword is plastic, and you paid five hundred bucks for it."

Dan just stood there for a few seconds trying to take in the news. Ninja sword, good. Plastic, not good. Had he read the description? That was the problem, he didn't remember reading it, and he would have remembered if he did. _Let's see, I had gone onto the website and made that account, and then I looked at new auctions, and then I saw the cool sword picture . . . . . and I never even bothered reading the description._ Dan slumped and walked over to his computer, he had to see for himself. On the computer screen was a picture of the sword, the same one that had gotten Dan hooked. Beside it was a description of it, it read-

**An elegant sword, painted silver with red dragons dancing on the blade. With a gold colored hilt, this sword will make an excellent birthday present for any boy. Not real, made in China. Plastic. **

_Plastic. Plastic. I spent five hundred bucks on plastic._ Dan exited the room, and got ready for school silently. He dressed, brushed his teeth, all silently. He then grabbed his backpack and left the house, starting the long walk to his school. It was going to be a long walk.

* * *

Ian finally here. Sitting on the same couch Dan had been sitting on last night, making the same imprint with his butt on the couch, in the exact same spot. Dan was hyper, or at least a little bit crazed.

Ian had arrived at school during the high school lunch period, and Warren had chosen that day to sit next to Amy. From what Dan had heard from a text from a friend, Warren was sitting pretty close to Amy too. Like, shoulder's touching close. Amy had probably looked embarrassed, or at least uncomfortable, and knowing Amy, she probably wanted to be anywhere but there. Soon after, Ian came into the picture. Looking like a Sun God, Ian had walked into the noisy cafeteria and somehow dodged the food that had been flying that day. Then, some random girl saw him and stopped throwing food. Then the person next to her, and then the next, and Ian had affected all of the girls in the cafeteria with his radiant God like powers, all the girls except for Amy, who was too busy trying to inch herself away from Warren.

Amy had looked up, and spotting Ian, stood up from her place next to Warren. Ian spotted her and started to walk to her, when some girl named Allison walked up to him and asked him for a date. Ian had tried to pull away, but seconds later, almost all the girls were flocking to him, like a magnet, they were the negative, he was the positive, and for some strange reason Amy was a positive too. So much for opposites attract. When Amy had started walking to Ian, Warren had probably assumed he was attracting Amy too, and he quickly put his arm around Amy's shoulder. Amy had pushed it off and continued walking to her cousin. Ian too walked to her, and pretty soon they were almost neck and neck, just staring at each other. No words were exchanged, just jade eyes vs. brown eyes, and a few punches. Dan smiled at the thought. Two guys, fighting over Amy? They mustbe mental or something. Anyways, Warren decided that Ian was a threat, and tried to throw a few punches at him. Then the girls got involved, standing up for Ian, and they began to scream at Warren. During the fight Amy and Ian had been able to leave the cafeteria unnoticed. Dan whished he had caught it on video, or at least been there to laugh at Ian and Warren.

"So why were you screaming on the phone, Ian?" Amy started. "You said something about Natalie, I think?"

"Oh, yeah. Natalie was kidnapped. By Vespers." Vespers. The name rattled Dan's brain. He opened his laptop and opened a file labeled "Known Vespers". Inside was a profile of each Vesper, including their specialties, birth, if they are full Vesper of half, important things. Although most of the profiles were incomplete, most of them were able to provide a name and a picture, along with a short summary of them. Dan turned the laptop around so Ian could see it, and put it on slide show.

"Was it any of these weirdo's that kidnapped Natalie?"Dan asked, flipping the slides. "This African American dude? What about this Asian one, Annie, or hey, what about this dude, Chester, he sounds important, look, was once in rehab for doing drugs, oh, and kill a teenager once? No, not him. Hmm . . . what about this dude. He sort of reminds me of Zuko from Avatar the Last Airbender, see, with the bangs, just no scar, no? Come on Ian, you're so, I don't know. Serious. There. How about her, whoa, long profile here. Lets skip to the next one, don't want to read that, here what about―"

"Wait, Dan flip that slide back." Ian said. Dan obediently flipped it back. "Who's she?"

"I don't know, some girl named Carrie. Black hair, Goth looking, except no make-up, parents dead, killed by Kabras . . . ." Dan looked at Ian. "Did you know this?" He was angry now, fuming, because he knew what it was like to loose your parents, Amy and Dan had lost theirs in a fire caused by Isabelle Kabra. "Your parents. . . . Don't make me finish Ian."

"I know her." Ian continued as if nothing had happened. "I used to play with her when I was younger. Her parents worked for mine, and then, she and her little brother and sister just disappeared. My dad said he had fired them, but obviously not. She attacked me on the way here." Ian looked at Amy, which was probably smart of him, considering Dan's state right now. Angry. Fuming, and he didn't even have a good enough reason, just another family orphaned because of Ian's parents. Amy didn't look much better, she was a pale white, the skin color you might picture a vampire to be.

"Dude," Dan looked at Ian.

"What?"Ian demanded.

"Nothing, wait, yeah, never mind. I got nothing."

* * *

A/N: sorta boring, maybe? im sorry.

promise next one will be better.

well, see ya in a week!


	7. Chapter 6

**BTW: I'm thinking of changing the name to just That is the Question. **

**Ok. This one is just named chapter six (I think) because this chapter is going to be from two people's point of view, Kale and Annie. **

**WARNING! There are going to be some shooting(but i promise i don't describe ANYTHING!) (I've been reading the Hunger Games, and well, yeah. if it's bad, i will replace the whole chapter with not so badness) in it. Sorta like the Carrie and Ian one except a little more in this. I PROMISE YOU IT IS NOT THAT BAD!**

**IF IT IS BAD, WELL THEN, IDK, WRITE A COMPLAINT LETTER TO ME! Tell me how bad it is. I've noticed that a lot of the others don't really have shooting; they are all Ian and Amy kissing and stuff. Tell me if you can handle it!**

**im praying this still counts as a T story. . . . cross your fingers!**

**If you hate shooting and violence, and you decided to skip this bolded part, sucks to be you! (Can you picture me smiling as I wrote that? I can.)**

**I'm mad. I lost my USB thumb drive somewhere.**

* * *

"_Life is like a box of chocolates,_

_you never know what your going to get."_

_-Unknown_

**Kale**

The gun rested in Kale's hands, belonging there. It probably did, ever since he could remember he was trained for this. He was trained how to shoot a gun when he was six years old. The Grand Chief had especially wanted him and his sisters, Kat and Carrie to learn. "They have talent," "They're gonna make the Vespers known through out the world," blah, blah, blah. Yeah, sure, the Grand Chief had high hopes for them, she had high hopes for almost everyone, and look how that got her. He continued to wipe his gun, shiny metal squeaked. He didn't know a gun could squeak, maybe he cleaned it too much. Although he was told that guns were only for protection, he like the fact that he was a twelve year old with a gun, he thought that was cool. The gun belonged in his hands like Winnie the Pooh had his honey and Harry Potter his wand.

"Kale, your guns clean enough." It was Kat, his twin sister. Kat was two inches taller than him, with a whole head of brown hair that reached her shoulders and curled at the tips. She wore long, dangly necklaces that had things like plastic, silver hearts on them, and she wore a lot of mascara. She also always wore boots, big black combat boots; you can't be a Kat without them.

"Whatever little sis." Kale responded. She stepped closer to try and pull the gun out of his hands but instantly jumped back.

"Oh god, you're starting to smell as bad as Jeff." She held her nose, high, like she was a queen or something. Even while covering her nose she still had to have her dignity.

"Dude," he said, standing up. The hallway was empty; everyone must be at that important meeting they weren't allowed to attend. "Jeff is my teacher, my role model. How dare your criticize him!" He stuck his finger at her nose, and when Kat looked down at it she looked funny cross eyed.

"The only things he's teaching you are how to be perverted and how to smell bad." Grabbing his arm, she dragged his away from his gun and down the empty hallway. Finally she gave up dragging his and let him walk on his own. "You know," she began, "I wish we were allowed to attend that meeting. Everyone who's anyone gets too. People like Annie and Jeff, and even Chester! Important people." She sighed.

"Dude, who would want to sit in that dumb old meeting, even Carrie doesn't like it." Carrie could make anything fun and interesting with her jokes and rude comments.

"Yeah, well, Carrie's all the way in some base in Minnesota, probably meeting new people, guys even. She's not stuck in here watching Natalie demand for new clothes and watching you polish your gun for the seventh time today." He counted in his head, it wasn't seven times, it was eight, but he wasn't telling Kat that.

The farther they walked, Kale started to notice how empty the corridor was. Usually, there were a few guards posted at doors, but there were none. It was empty, quiet, and it looked sad. The Vespers base was a sad place. All they did was have war meetings and learn how to kill people. The last time Kale had remembered peace and quiet, or at least had fun was when he was a four year running through the halls at the Kabra mansion. He tried to think back to that time, trying to bury his thoughts inside them, but all he could remember were gun shots, and Carrie screaming and Kat crying. He didn't even know who had been shot.

"Hey Kale, did you hear something?" Kat whispered from next to him, she grabbed his hand. Kale stared at their hands awkwardly, but was distracted by a loud bang coming from another wing in the building.

"Yeah, I heard that." He replied.

Kat shivered, and her grip on his hand tightened. "Do you think?"

"Yeah." Gunshots. He had never heard them from outside training, but they were just that, gunshots. "It's fine, it's probably just some people training."

"Kale, there's someone ahead." Kat pointed ahead. There was a dark shadow ahead, a body, crawling forward. When he got into the light, Kale gasped. He looked fine, but he was dragging himself on the ground with his arms, with each pull he would whimper, gasp, and then gag. And then Kale noticed the puddle of blood surrounding him, the thick, sticky substance that was plastered on his guard uniform.

He whispered one word, "Cahills" and then he slumped on the floor. Dead. Kat shook next to Kale, her grip so hard it was stopping his blood circulation from reaching his hand.

"Cahills." Kat repeated. Cahills. Cahills were here. And they killed a guard. "We have to warn everyone else, Kale, go to the sixth wing, you have to warn the hospital, and then go and find Marley, please. I'm going to warn the meeting about this, I'll meet you outside, I love you Kale, you and Carrie." Kat sniffed a sob. She had never been forced to be this brave, and Kale realized, neither had he. But then, why is she worried about their cat, Marley, in a time like this?

"I'll go warn the hospital." He wanted to stall; he didn't want to be on his own in a time like this. He was scared, crying, and he was defenseless. He didn't have his shiny gun that belonged in his hands. "This is what we trained for Kat, love you too." It sounded like good-bye, and as they ran and Kat turned into a different wing, Kale realized he didn't want this to be good bye. The sound of gunshots ran through his ears, hard. The sound would probably stay there forever.

"Love you Kat." He raced down the hallway, knowing he had to do what Kat told him to do.

What he didn't know was it would be the last time he ever saw Kat.

**Annie**

Annie knew lots of things. She knew that there was no such thing as an opposite day, because once it was opposite day, it would change back to a normal day because the opposite of an opposite day was a normal day. She also knew that there was no such thing as good or evil because the evil people usually thought what they were doing was right, as well as the good people. Lastly, she knew that there was no such thing as love, and that God only created it because he was tired of creating more and more people.

"This is so boring. Shoot me now." She turned, and there was Chester. He was an African American with a criminal record. They had once had to break him out of prison for shooting someone at a bar. Strike that, they had to do that twice.

"Shh! Some people actually want to know about how the Cahills had found the master serum." Actually, she didn't care at all, but that was the best come back she could think of right now.

Grand Chief's loud voice boomed through the room. She was a husky woman, with wide shoulders and thick bones, which she claimed was from drinking eight glasses of milk everyday when she was a child. Annie had purposefully stopped drinking milk because of that; she didn't want to end up looking like the Grand Chief.

"We do know some of the ingredients, but we need more. Who knows which one of those brats will drink that drink, I hope it's not those Kabras." The Chief took a deep gulp of the wine that was on her desk, and set it down with a thump. "Man, I hate those losers! We should of topped them years ago! What's wrong with you people?" She screamed. Spit flew out of her mouth, making Miranda and Derek take a step back. This was the part when her lectures got interesting.

"We have found a few more, Grand Chief." Derek purposed. "Yesterday, we sent in a group and they found out one." Derek started sliding folders out from his book bag, probably containing everything that would make the Grand Chief happy. Except he didn't carry wine. The Grand Chief was the only one who drunk around here. _She went from milk to wine._ Annie thought sadly. When she grew up and became important, Annie never wanted to drink. Watching the Chief do it while in meetings was bad, sometimes she would stop mid sentence, passed out drunk. Other times she would throw bottles at whoever wasn't listening. The only reason people came to these meetings was because the Grand Chief was deadly with her machine gun. It scared Annie even thinking about it.

"Yeah, we found out things we already knew, Derek." Jeff took a bite out of his Kit-Kat. It made a big _crunch _noise. "Sometimes," _Crunch_. "I think that," _Crunch. _"The Cahills," _Crunch. _The phone rang, saving everyone from Jeff's crunching noises. Noelle, who was closest to the phone picked it up and listened. Annie watched as her blue eyes got from small, to big, whatever the reason, Annie didn't want to know.

"Cahills." Noelle rushed. "There's a whole group, maybe thirty of them, they broke Natalie out and now they're headed here. Lock the doors!" She screamed, and when no one moved, she slid over the Grand Chief's desk and reached for the knob. Unfortunately, it was the only door in the room along with windows. The Grand Chief grabbed her gun from beside her chair, others pulled out knives and small guns. Annie just stood there, and for the first time she realized how cold it was in here without a jacket.

"Get the kids out of here." Derek pointed at her, Jeff, An, and a few others. "You guys, vents." Noelle stepped up and knocked the vents open, fortunately they were big enough for them to fit in, they were probably made that way from the start. The Grand Chief was still getting over the shock that they had gotten into her base. Annie was too. Carefully, Annie stepped on filing cabinets and into the vent. There were shafts there, like the ones you see people crawl in in movies. She climbed up and nearly fell when a huge thud hit the door outside.

"Faster!" Jeff called from behind her. She crawled in, her nails making horrible sounds when contacting the metal and made her shiver. _Next time bring a jacket. _When she was all the way in, she crawled inches forward and heard someone else enter. What seemed like seconds later erupted in gun shots. The door must have broken down. Voices, Chester's. Screams, all different types, screams of pain, frightened screams, and screams people make while doing things like swinging a sword and shooting someone. She didn't want to hear anymore, but she couldn't reach her ears, the shaft was too tight.

"Make them stop." She silently cried. She was crying.

Suddenly, all the shots stopped, a male voice started to speak. "Dumb Vespers, you think you can out smart me? Take my daughter and keep her locked up here? You information is so out classed, didn't you know? The Cahills have banned together now, and were fighting to bring you down." He snarled, and into what Annie thought was a walkie talkie the male voice said, "Cora, there's no information here that you may want. Sorry," he paused, taking a deep breath, probably savoring his victory. "But there are no hostages." Annie pictured him smiling when he said that, and that made her mad. He was shooting her family, friends, Grand Chief, Derek, Madison, Jeff. Footsteps retreated from the room and all Annie could here now where her sobs and someone else's breathing.

"Who?"

"Shhh! There's still someone there!" It was a quiet scream. Jeff. Annie started to crawl forward inside the vents. She realized that she was wrong. There were such things as evil and good people. The Cahills were evil. And for once, Annie felt anger and dread. Her fists were clutched and she was crying.

"Annie. It's ok. Or, it will be. We'll get out of here, find other survivors, and maybe get the master serum. Then we can find Carrie maybe." Jeff was trying to calm her down.

"Oh, ok." She hiccuped. "It doesn't change the fact that Cahill's are evil. I want to kill them now. I feel awful." She cried harder. Jeff laid his hand on her leg, they were big and warm, and felt good on her cold skin. She could feel him shaking just by his touch.

They inched forward, what seemed like for hours. When Jeff thought they had crawled far enough, he cut a small hole in the metal with his knife and they exited the shaft. They were in an unused wing, and they ran to the exit. Jeff flung open the door and together they ran outside.

They ran harder then they ever had. Annie knew she wanted to get as far as she could from this place, she never wanted to see it ever again. She continued to run, for her life, her freedom and for her tomorrow. _She wanted her tomorrow more than the other things._ She realized. She wanted there to always be a tomorrow.

_

* * *

_

A/N: Yeah, bloody, blame the

_Hunger Games__ and the __Gone Series._

_If it's really bad I'll change the thing so there's no gunshots and stuff, because ahead there probably will be more fighting, and maybe some long over due Ian and Amy moments (They won't be really bad, PROMISE!)._

_Ok. The story is going to be different stories going on at the same time. (Natalie is going to join one of the groups, and I may have some Dan/Natalie, still deciding.)_

_Ian, Amy and Dan's (Maybe Nellie and Saladin too)_

_Then Carrie's part or the story. (She's gonna join with the top group soon)_

_Annie and Jeff. (They want revenge!)_

_And then I'm still deciding on if I should have Kale, or Hamilton. There is diffidently going to some of the Triplets, they may join with the Holts and Alistair. _

_It may be confusing, but I am trying my best. _

_OMG! The Buried Black Secrets thing is out! Except it looks really . . . .idk? I might borrow it from the library, but diffidently not buying it. Borders has it like twenty percent off where I am. (If you don't know what Borders is just skip the whole last sentence.)_

_Have fun during the week, ace a test, buy a smoothie, kiss your crush, read a good book, make a new friend, eat fish for dinner. I dare you!_


	8. Chapter 7 Carrie

**HAHAHA! HAHAHHA! HAHHA! Breath, in out, in out. I'm ready to begin.**

**Sorry if the grammar or whatever is off... I didn't have time to re-read it through.**

**BTW: I love the movie Spirited Away so expect quotes from that. **

* * *

"_I finally get a bouquet and it's a good bye present. That is depressing." –Chihiro from Spirited Away_

The car veered to the left, causing Carrie to grip to handle of the door even harder than before._ This is like a roller coaster. _Carrie thought glumly. _And I was stupid enough to go on it. _Cooper, her "handsome knight in shining armor" that rescued her from not-having-anywhere-to-go-cause-the-Vespers-forgot-to-send-you-a-car monster was driving her to a secret Vesper base in Minnesota at a hundred miles per hour. Or so it seemed. Cooper had that grin on his face that literally said I'm having the time of my life, but Carrie wasn't. _I think I'm going to puke. _

Another sharp turn off the freeway and Carrie would start to taste that horrible taste in her mouth. The same taste you can taste right before you throw up. At least God allowed a warning sign so you know to get a barf bag.

Carrie was in a horrible mood from the time she took of from the Vesper base in Antarctica to the time she reached the base in Minnesota. The plane ride had been horrible, the music sounded like the 80's (she hated the 80's music, she preferred songs like "Dynamite" and "Teenage Dream".)

And sadly, the movies on the plane stunk. They were under the label "new releases" but they had been shown in the theater nearly a year ago, and have been on DVD for months. _Maybe she could sue the plane company. Great. Don't turn into Natalie and Ian and sue every little thing! _She made a silent prayer to anyone, or whoever might be listening.

When she had left the plane and entered the airport, she looked like a fish out of water, or a pine tree in a desert. People were hurrying from left to right, holding huge briefcases that probably carried to many not important files inside.

One tourist strolled by with a Hawaiian looking shirt and a camera around his neck. He had black hair with little strips of grey in it and was holding an odd looking cane in one hand, and in the other what looked like a duffel bag. Except for the wires sticking out of it and connecting into his ears, the man looked completely normal. _An iPod, probably. _Carrie scanned the airport for anyone suspicious. She had been taught to do that when first entering a big room with lots of people, a dumb rule, but you never know when it will save your life.

By the time she reached the baggage claim area, everyone else from her flight was already there and had already taken their baggage. Only a bright pink suitcase and a black luggage were still circulating around on the conveyor belt. No sign of her bags. Carrie spent a whole half hour looking for them before she ended up storming off the find the nearest worked and find her bags. The picture of her parents were in it, along with files from the Vespers. _Stupid, stupid, stupid. Should have kept it with me! _When the airport workers couldn't find it, Carrie tried calling her taxi that the Vespers were supposed to have arranged by now, but found out her phone was on her luggage too.

Beaten, tired, and almost in tears, Carrie walked to a nearby bench and just sat there. For a long time she just sat there and watched as people passed by her bench. One had been a family of five, a mother with bright red hair was holding the hands of what looked like twins. They must have been about five years old. Behind them was a father and next to him a little girl with sandy blond hair. For a second, Carrie saw her family replacing the images of theirs. There was Kat and Kale, holding their mom for dear life, and there was her, proudly walking next to her father. Lastly there was her mother and father. Mom and dad. Mother and father. Parents she had never really gotten to meet because of the Cahills.

How much more would they take from her?

"Hey . . . . you're not lost or anything, cause your sitting a few yards from the exit sign, you know." Carrie was so busy thinking about everything she had lost, she never noticed a guy come and sit next to her on the bench. When she turned, she saw a teenage guy, maybe one or two years older than her. He had sandy blond hair and wide blue eyes, eyes that looked like the color of the sky, but didn't literally have the sky in them. He was wearing a dark blue t-shirt that was the same color of his jeans.

"No. The people I'm supposed to meet forgot to send me a car." Carrie mumbled. The guy reached into his jeans and took out a set of keys and started to twirl it on his pointer finger.

"I have a car you know, and I have a seat open on the passenger side." He threw his keys into the air and caught it. _Show off. _"My names Cooper, and you are. . . . . "

"Carrie."

"Alright Carrie, let us go!"He stood up, and Carrie just stared at him. She was trying the weigh her options, and most of them led to going into the car with a stranger named Cooper. _Lets see, I can just sit here and wait to be found, or I can actually get someplace by going into Coopers car._ She glanced at Cooper. _I think I can take him in a fight if it comes down to it. _She decided.

"Alright Cooper. Where's your car parked?"

By the time Cooper's car pulled into a huge mansions drive way, Carrie was holding a barf bag in front of her mouth, ready for whatever might come out. Cooper's car pulled into a slow drive, and when it finally stopped Carrie opened the door with a rush and lay on the ground, trying to hug it.

"Oh my god, I'm never gonna step foot off you again." She said to the ground. "Promise me your not gonna make me ride in that car again!" She pulled a bunch of grass from its roots and threw it into the air.

"Well, Carrie the three year old. My work here is done." Cooper was leaning against the door of his car with a huge smirk on his face. "Oh and, nice house by the way. Here you go." Cooper pulled out a black sharpie from his jacket pocket. Carrie still sitting on the ground eyed the sharpie suspiciously, for it could be anything. But anything turned out to be a regular sharpie and Cooper took her arm and wrote a phone number on it.

"That's my number. If you ever need someone to drive you and you're in the area, don't hesitate to call."With that he went back into his car and drove off.

For a few minutes Carrie just sat there and stared at the numbers on her arm, and when she got bored of that she lay down on the grass and closed her eyes. _I'll only rest for a few minutes . . . . ..make . . . . . sure. ... . _

"_Were going to live in a new house, Carrie." Her father picked her up and put her on his shoulders. She could see everything when she was up there, and the sky didn't looks so unreachable anymore. Carrie stretched her hands out trying to touch the sky._

"_The sky is so big. Where does it end?" Carrie gazed at the sky for a little longer, and then looked down at the house her daddy was walking to. "Is that where were going to live?" She pointed at the big house ahead of them._

"_Yup. Mommy and I got a job there. It's going to be so much fun. I even heard there's a little boy that you can play with that's about your age." He smiled one of those everything is going to be alright smiles at her._

"_Oh, ok, I guess." Carrie slid off her fathers shoulders and ran ahead to the house._

_It was a big three story house painted white all over, with grey pillars holding a huge balcony up on the second floor. There were flower gardens everywhere and a small gate that was in between her and an enormous pool. There were so many windows and curtains, Carrie could just stare at them all for so long. On the front steps was her mother, who was standing next to a man. He had a black business suit on that matched his pants_. He looks rich. _Carrie thought to herself. _I want to be rich too! _When the man turned to look at Carrie, she stopped running to her mother and just stared at him. He had dark brown eyes and the bushiest eyebrows she had ever seen. But that wasn't what made her stop. It was the way he looked at her. His eyes seemed to drill into her, like he knew everything. Like he could see everything. _

"_Hello."The strange man began. "My name is Vikram Kabra. Carrie, I have a feeling you will love it here." _

Carrie woke up seeing the face of Vikram Kabra, but when she started blinking she noticed that he had disappeared.

"Ugh." Carrie tried to get up, which was hard at first. Her arms didn't seem to want to move at all."Stupid arms, I'd cut you off if I didn't need you so much." By the time she made it to the front of the mansion, her dream had been totally forgotten.

"Carrie!" The huge door swung open to reveal Annabel, a fifteen year old Vesper, who quickly threw her arms around Carrie's neck. "I'm so sorry. We forgot to send you a car, we, we, were err. ... busy with matters from the Antarctic base. You see. . . . well, something happened that we had to deal with."

"It's alright Annabel, I'm going to my room, ok?"

"Umm. . . .ok. The leader wants to see you in a few minutes. I'll tell him to wait until you unpacked. Go to room 3G on the fifth floor, were having a meeting there."

"Got it Annabel, see you in a few minutes!" Rushing off to her room, which she knew from her past visits, Carrie realized that the hallways were deserted. _Must be the meeting. _Carrie thought. _Might as well go now, I have nothing to unpack really._

The meeting hall was full of people. There were little kids, guards, spies, everyone. The only thing that they all had in common was the fact that they were either crying or had a stricken look on their face. Mothers were holding onto their children for dear life, husbands were holding sobbing wives, even the teenagers that Carrie knew to be pranksters had their hats off and looked sober.

"Hey Carrie, glad you're alive and made it out on time." A big man wearing a tux stood up from the front of the table, and as he did everyone else tried to silence their tears and small talk. "We were just about to read a letter from the Cahill's. Maybe you can help." Carrie was confused now. _A letter? From the Cahills? Why are they sending us a letter? And why is everyone crying?_ Taking a seat next to some fat old man, Carrie waited patiently along with everyone else. The tux man turned on a projector and slid the letter under it so everyone could read it on their own.

_Hello Vespers._

_We are so sorry about the loss of your precious base in Antarctica. I know it was an every important base to you. You see why I had to do it, you kidnapped my daughter, and I love her very much. What was I supposed to do, just sit there why you could be torturing her? Let you get your hands on the serum? You see, even I don't have it. The recipe is in the hands of a Dan and Amy Cahill, the grandchildren of Grace, you remember her? _

_I'm also afraid that there were no survivors at the base. Everyone is dead. _

_Anyways, I have written this letter to tell you to give up any pathetic attempts to gain power in this world, for you see, it has been a Cahill world for the last hundred of years. Yes, I feel your pain. Always having to be the underdog, the losers, you see, I too have been the second next to Grace, but that doesn't matter. I guess there isn't really a point to this letter, except to tell you that you Vespers may try to gain power however you want. We already know that JFK was a Vesper, and what did we do? We shot him. Hitler was one too, proving that once you get power, all you want is more. _

_The world is safer in the hands of the Cahills than in yours, you know. _

_Sincerely,_

_Vikram Kabra_

Everyone was quiet and didn't move, talk, or even cry. Everyone was too stunned to do anything, and for the longest time Carrie was too._Kat, Kale, Jeff. . . . .Annie? I once wanted to know what more the Cahills could take from me, but, I didn't really want an answer. . . . ._

That night Carrie packed whatever she had, along with a few other things she stole from the base. When she was safely out, she went to one of those public telephones and called the number written on her hand. On the second ring someone picked up the phone.

"Helllooo! Who might this be?" Cooper.

"It's Carrie, could you drive me someplace?"

"Carrie? Sure. Where are you, I'll pick you up in about fifteen minutes." Carrie told him her location and hung up. Cooper her personal butler was back in business.

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A/N: You don't get the point of this chapter? It's ok. Not one of my best ones.

Read and Review, please?

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Oh, I'm also changing the name of the story a little. *type, type, type* ok. *smile* All done now.


	9. Chapter 8 Alistair

**Alistair is back in business, baby! **

**Yeah. . . . I didn't get a lot of review last chapter. . …. Was it that boring? *fake crying* Well, thank you to whoever reviewed.**

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Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while were here we should dance -Unknown

Italian restaurant? Nah, had pizza for lunch. How about Panda Express? Not fancy enough.

_It's hard to congratulate yourself on a job well done, isn't it? _Alistair thought to himself, tapping his cane to his right knee as he walked. He smiled again to himself, one of those proud ruler of the world smiles. Finally deciding on an Italian restaurant, Alistair Oh seated himself and waited for a waiter to come and take his order. He pulled out his laptop along with a blue suitcase about the size of a computer screen. It was one of those hard shell like ones, and had several colorful dots on it. He opened the lid and peered inside of it.

For one thing, it was cleaner than most suitcases he had stolen and dug through, folders were neatly piled on one side of the suitcase, and the other had all of the girl's clothes. He gently picked up the files as if they were hundred of years old and could break any second. The first one was in a manila folder and contained two pieces of paper. The first one said: one gram melted amber. The second page had only one word on it, myrrh. _Clues to the master serum, I guess. We have all this information already. _Alistair put the files on the table and took out another.

"Hello! Welcome to the Olive Grove, have you decided what you wanted to drink yet?" _Drinks? _There was a waiter standing next to the table, holding a notepad and a pen. She had a tightly wrapped bun that held back her blond hair, a white button up shirt that was neatly tucked into her black pants. A black apron hung around her waist, with two huge pockets on it, probably to hold her notepad and pen. Alistair noticed that she was wearing a lot of make-up, and her pale skin didn't look very good with her bright red lipstick.

"Err . . . give me a second." Alistair took out the menu that he had roughly shoved to the side and flipped through trying to find the page with drinks. "How about . . . .do you have green tea?" Typical Asian drink in an Italian restaurant? Chances of them having them was very small.

"Actually, we do!" The waiter said happily, fake enthusiasm. That was going to get on his nerves someday.

"Ok. Give me one of those." When she left, Alistair took a quick look at the menu and searched for the best looking thing on the menu and prepared himself for when the waiter would return. He opened another file from the suitcase. Inside were letters, it seemed. They were old fashioned in some way, written in neat cursive in black ink that made spots on the paper, and the yellow paper was obliviously old, for it was cracked and wrinkled in several places.

_To many words can not describe these wee items, _

_for there are too little of us to fight them._

_Colors of scarlet smear into my face,_

_and life's paths quicken in pace._

_Oh! How I wish that my decedents would not bare,_

_this troubled fate I had to share,_

_with my family of five,_

_and the rest of my friends, the kings of the hive._

_I broke apart from them,_

_they tried to warn me, _

_but I would not listen to thee._

_- Damien Vesper _

Poems. Maybe this guy was a Janus, except for the fact that he related a lot of things to bees. Alistair hated bees, so he had a feeling he was going to hate whoever this guy was.

The rest of the papers were like that, poems, old crinkly poems from some guy named Damien Vesper. _Vesper._ The words hissed in the back of his mind, ringing a bell in his mind, expecting him to know what it meant. He had heard that word before, maybe his uncle had mentioned them before. Was that a line of Cahils, maybe an unknown branch? The poem did say that they broke apart from something, maybe it was the Cahills. Thoughts whirled in his mind ideas, unanswered questions, and theories. He took out another one of the poems and read it. It was the exact same copy as the first one, except it was on newer paper and typed in ink. The rest of the file were print outs on different people from all over the world and all over time, from Virginia Dare to Alexios Angelos, Nicholas Flamel and Adolf Hitler. Maybe past Cahills, or maybe random people, Alistair wasn't sure.

"Are you ready to order?" Smile waitress was back, holding the same notebook and pen in her hands.

"Yes, um. . . I'll take the pizza."

"Pepperoni? Cheese? What type would you want?"

"Err . . . Cheese."

"Would you like to add any other toppings, chili," _Chili? "_Pineapple, how about pepperoni?"

"Just cheese, and that's all I want, thank you very much." She set down his tea and walked away. _Finally. _Alistair continued to go though the stacks of papers, finding little that sparked his interest. He didn't even know what he was looking for, _just something important_, the triplets said. _Something important, why couldn't they had gone looking through a girls luggage, I mean, there are a lot of clothes he shouldn't be digging through in here. _He better be paid a lot for this.

When the waiter came and set down his plate, he didn't even look up to thank her. He just kept reading and reading the files. Alistair picked up his fork and started to eat. At the bottom of the stack of folders was a small picture frame. The frame was made out of wood, and the glass was getting dusty. He wiped the dust off and stared at the contents. There were two older people, one with dark black hair and the other brown, and in front of them a little three year old girl. The older male had jet black hair, around his mouth were little stubs like he hadn't shaved in weeks, and he had the darkest brown eyes. Next to him was a brown haired person, obviously pregnant with a child and expecting it any day, wearing a turtle-neck and holding the shoulders of the younger girl. She looked to be about three years old, black hair like her father and green eyes like her mom. For the first time in several minutes Alistair took his eyes off the files and looked up to scan the room for the first time.

It was darkly lit, with a little lamp hanging over each table, some of them not even on. There were a few tables in the center, but most of the tables were on the edges, seating all types of people. Alistair took another bite of his pizza. He cut off a part of it with his fork and then scooped it into his mouth. Delicious. Alistair set everything back into its places in the suitcase and dialed his phone. Someone picked it up on the first ring, as if expecting his call. With his case, they probably were.

"Well?" girl voice, Sinead. "Did you find anything?"

"You should have been the one going through this _stuff_, not me. But no, just a bunch of files about several people and a poem about bees, it was kind of boring I don't think you would have to bother reading it." that was true enough, except for the part about splitting. "What was the point of this again?"

"The Vespers are hiding something that no one else knows about, even the Lucians and the Janus. I believe that something has changed, but I don't know in what yet. That's where you come in, I have to watch my brothers, they're getting worse." Was it his imagination, or did he hear Sinead choke those last words out. Ever since the explosion during the first month of the clue hunt, the two brothers had never been the same.

"There is one thing you should know, I found ―" Alistair hung up and got his suitcase and cane and leapt up from the table. "I have to go." He shouted at no one in particular, but some people did turn and look his way. Maybe he should pay for his pizza? Nah there's no time, besides he only took about two bites from it.

From outside the window was the tall, lean figure of Bae Oh. He was wearing a black suit and his hair was all up, like he was going to a fancy party.

"Excuse me," he told a waiter passing by. "Is there a back door?"

"Yes."

"Can I use it?"

"Why?" The waiter responded. Alistair didn't have time for this. He pulled a twenty dollar bill from his pocket and waved it in front of the mans face.

"Follow me please." Alistair glanced out the window. Bae had just spotted him through the window and was pushing his way towards the restaurant. Alistair followed the man to the back door and when he reached it ran out, not bothering to give the man his money. He took out his cell phone.

"Where ― why did hang up! Is this some type of sick joke?" Sinead screamed into the earpiece.

"No, Bae is on my trail, I had to go before he found these files." Alistair tried to catch his breath. He continued to run.

"Well, did you find anything interesting?"

"Yeah, I think these people, Vespers, might have once, long, long, long, millions of years ago, have been Cahills, or they could be some other line of descendents, I'm not sure. Or they were really close to someone in the Cahills, and then something happened. All the files had were nonsense, like they were in some code or something, and I couldn't figure it out with the time I had."

"All right, get back here, I want to see those files. Were stationed in New York now." Sinead hung up, leaving Alistair to hear that beep beep sound you hear after someone hangs up.

"Some people. We were supposed to be allies, not Sinead demands everything and Alistair picks it up." Alistair mumbled to himself as he tried to signal a taxi. Frustrated, he stepped into the taxi.

"Where would you like to go sir?" Alistair thought for a moment.

"Anywhere but New York."

"You have to be more spicific than that sir."

"Fine. Take me to the airport, I'm going back to Korea."

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A/N – poem, I made it up myself, so if it stinks or doesn't rhyme, that's my fault. I also figured out Adolf Hitler was a Lucian. I have to fix that.

_i don't know if they would serve green tea at an italian resteraunt, and olive garden? just sounded italian._

_Those random names I had, Virginia Dare, that Alexios dude, I just searched them up on wiki . . .. so yeah. _

_P.S. YEAH! done with the next chapter! just waiting for the weekend!_


	10. Chapter 9 Amy

**Ok. **

**First, happy Thanksgiving to everyone! I'm so happy I get days off from school; it allows me to write super long chapters.**

**Second, I want to thank fanclubofme for all the awesome review. *clap, clap***

**Third. . .. sorry. that's it.**

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Maybe this is wishful thinking  
Probably mindless dreaming  
If we loved again I swear I'd love you right

I'd go back in time and change it but I can't  
So if the chain is on your door, I understand

_Back to December, Taylor Swift_

Amy dreamt of Ian that night. She was lying on her bed, thinking of how he was sleeping in the room next to hers, she wanted to hear his breathing ― but couldn't. She wanted a lot of things, and at the very top of the list was Ian, along with Grace and her parents. It's weird how her list contains only people, lost people, dead people, lying backstabbing cousin people. Amy didn't think Santa could give her all those things, even if she was a really good girl this year. Strike that ― thinking of all the lying she had done, the backstabbing, and stealing, she would be lucky to get a lump of coal in her stocking.

In Amy's dream, they were back in Korea searching for the clue in the cave. She could still feel the buzzing on her lips, the slight tingle and pressure that had been on it. They continued to walk farther and farther into the cave until the found the triangular mirror. In a short time, Dan had come up with the next clue, Lake Tash, and Ian and Natalie had already celebrated about all the gold they had found. Now she could remember how her face had touch Ian's as he hugged her. Not a feeling she wanted to remember. The dream skipped ahead. Ian and Natalie were at the cave entrance, and Amy finally realized that everything Ian had said and done was a lie, but instead of leaving the cave with Natalie, Ian had boldly stepped next to Amy and told his sister he wasn't leaving without her. Amy smiled in her sleep that night, and if she listened hard, she could hear Ian's soft breathing through the thin walls.

"How'd ya sleep kiddo? Any bad dreams, bug bites?" Nellie said joyfully, pouring a cup of hot chocolate in her mug. Amy knew that Nellie couldn't live without hot chocolate, and that if the world would end in twenty minutes, Nellie would be stuffing herself with hot chocolate. Nellie dumped a bag of marshmallows into the cup, and it overflowed and spilled out onto the table. Dan picked a few up and stuck it into his mouth.

"It needs more chocolate, and some gram crackers to go with this." He said making that face like he was trying to analyze the marshmallows and the results were coming out all wrong. He ran to the cabinet and pulled out some Hershey chocolate bars and a pack of gram crackers. Amy watched as her brother placed all of the ingredients onto a plate, marshmallows on top, then the chocolate, then the cracker, and stuffed it into the microwave.

She didn't want to have to admit to Nellie that she was dreaming of Ian.

"Ok, I guess." Amy picked at her eggs and tried to swallow a few. They tasted like cardboard and black pepper, but she wasn't going to admit that. It felt like she was hiding so much from them, and that one day she might explode, the truths coming out so fast you can't stop them and then bam! Amy didn't want to think of what the bam part would be like. An explosion? Hateful words?

Ian walked into the room, wearing silk pajamas and his hair was already combed. It was like the God of the Gods had comedown from heaven, Ian being the God and the decent from heaven the stairs. Amy felt the blood rise to her cheeks and tried to stop the oncoming blush. _Go away, disappear. _She felt like she didn't belong in this room with Ian. Ian was a very hot somebody. Dan was a s'more loving somebody. Nellie was an important Madrigal somebody. Amy was a reading lover, crowd fearing, history speech lecturing somebody. Not very impressive.

"I have a plan guy, and I need your help." Ian announced.

"Hey Ian, want some of my s'mores?" Dan said it like a little kid would ask an adult for something they weren't supposed to have. Innocent, cute, I can't do anything wrong smile. "I made it; it's fresh from the microwave!"

"You made it using the microwave? You know I heard that if you use the microwave to often, your going to get cancer." Ian replied. He looked at the fruit on the table. "I think I'll cut myself some fruit, I haven't been eating so healthy for the past days. Your house is filled with junk food, and I think I know who to thank, and airport food. All they had was McDonalds, this Five Guys Burgers, and a whole lot of fast food stuff can you believe it! When I get back into contact with my dad, I'm going to ask him to loan the airports some money to buy healthier food." Ian took a pear and started to cut it, and then he moved onto an apple and diced that up. So much for make the house perfect cause Ian is coming. Another thing Amy failed at.

"Oh, well I'm sorry our house isn't perfect for you Mr. I'm so Perfect, look at me! I have a British accent!" Dan mocked.

"Well, maybe some of us really care about how we look like!"

"Yeah, I'm sure you do. Do you put some random cream on your butt to get rid of pimples, cause it really stinks!"

"Your face stinks!"

"At least it's prettier than yours!"

"I'm going to sue you!"

"Oh yeah? I'd like to see you win this case, you're the one that started it with the cancer cause of the microwave!" Dan yelled, stuffing his mouth with s'mores. "I don't care if I get cancer, as long as I can still eat s'mores! What a sucky life you have, always having to be perfectly pretty! Haven't you ever just enjoyed yourselves? Eat a tub of ice cream and play video games? But no ― while normal boys are doing that, you're putting stuff on your face to make yourself beautiful!"

"You know what Dan? I'm not going to include you in my plan after all. Come on Amy, lets go."

Amy stood up and began to follow Ian. Alone time with Ian? Yeah! But then the thought that she was betraying her brother popped into her mind, was she?

"Where are you going Amy? You're siding with him?" Yup. Ultimate betrayal. "The pretty faced boy? The _Cobra?" _He literally hissed that last word, spit flying everywhere. _Ian or Dan? Dan or Ian? Which one? _Amy tried to calculate the options.

"I'm just going to see what his plan is Dan." She left the room, not wanting to hear Dan's screaming and she didn't want that little voice coming back saying she was making a big mistake.

Ian unrolled a map of some building ― it looked like the layout of an abandoned warehouse ― and he began pointing at places.

"Here's to door, where Nellie will stand guard in case there are people, here is a map of the ventilation pipes, here's the grand meeting room, every base has one. Here is the ―"

"Ian. What is this?" Amy asked. Ian pointed to the top of the map, where a huge title engulfed the top. She was surprised she didn't notice it before. Maybe she was to busy trying to study Ian's face. Fail again. Add that to the list of failures. Amy read the paper and felt a shiver run up her spine.

"You want us to penetrate a Vesper stronghold?"

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Darkness. Black light filled Amy's eyes, causing her to squint, looking for any source of light. Out side the wind was blowing from east to west, but there was no wind in here. It was empty. Abandoned. Alone. Well, at least she wasn't, Ian's body was moving beside hers, and Nellie was at the door in case anyone was coming.

She wanted to see the light ― was that too much to ask? Probably with her luck. Ian's footsteps next to hers hardly made a sound, while hers, well; hers sounded like she was running through a forest with twigs and dried up leaves, instead of a tiled hallway. They were running in a cool hallway, with doors on each side that probably lead to more hallways. It was deserted except for a few mice that loved to run by, but other than that empty. Except for her and Ian. And a few mice. And Nellie at the door.

"This way," Ian had literally memorized the map, greatly annoying Amy, that was Dan's job. It was supposed to be her and Dan. Dan and her. But no. Ian was here in his place cause Ian had made Dan stay at home cause he had insulted him. But then again, Ian and Amy, Amy and Ian. She smiled at the thought. "Left, no that's your right Amy, left." Amy turned left.

"You don't have to be so mean about it."

"Shh. Someone might be here, we don't want them to hear us. I've heard that Vespers were very dangerous." Ian said matter of factly. So instead, Amy listened to the sound of their footsteps on the tile, because that was all she could do, listen, and think, but people have said she thought to much, always questioning the flow of the river. Just go with the flow, they had said. _Just go with the flow._ Amy mocked in her head.

"Right," Ian whispered. Amy turned to the right. "Left. You see that door up ahead, that's supposedly where they held all their meetings." Ian pointed to a door way up ahead.

"So why is no one here?"

"I don't know. I expected to run into a few people, maybe guards that are holding Natalie hostage, but no one. I don't understand at all." Ian looked worried, his brows scrunched together like there was so much going on in his mind. There probably was, considering Natalie's capture, and a little part of Amy was hoping she was part of that confusion. _Get. Out. Of. My. Mind. Ian. Stupid. Ian. _Amy pretended to push Ian somewhere, doesn't matter the destination, as long as it was far from her. The thought made her smile.

"Do you really think Natalie is here?"

"You want the truth? No. I don't. But I think she might be, I mean, we are here, we should check just in case." Wild. Goose. Hunt. For something that wasn't even here. That was stupid. Beside her, Ian froze.

"What's wro―" Up in front of them was a dead end, a wall, a tree in the road.

"This isn't supposed to be here!" Ian screamed, taking out his layout. "See, right here, it's like, I don't know how to explain it, but I know it's not supposed to be here." Ian studied his map.

"How do you know that your map is correct?" Amy questioned, it was a possibility that Ian's resources weren't that accurate.

"My, my dad gave it to me when I was five. You see, at first, I had no idea what it was, 'what in the world is Vesper, daddy' but then I found out it was another family branch, rising from its own ashes that they caused years before! I had to know_." His dad gave it to him?_ Amy stopped questioning the maps accuracy. _And what was with the whole rising from the ashes speech?_

"Ok. So then explain the wall." Amy studied the wall. Maybe there was a place where if you pushed it it would open, like in the movies. She began to feel the wall, but as she pressed her hand to it a jolt of lightning shot at her hand, like the wall was surrounded by an electric field. And she thought the Ekats were nerds. Amy stumbled back and lost her balance. Luckily, Ian was there and caught her.

"You ok?" He asked. _Since when did you care Mr. Cobra?_ Amy wanted to scream at him, but took the kinder, less harsh answer.

"Yeah, I-I-I―" Amy took a deep breath. Ian holding her like this, this close equals stuttering, I mean, every girl would if HE was holding her. "I'm fine." _Better Amy, now no more stuttering, it makes you look weak. _

"Good, were going to need your brains to figure out this wall." _He didn't care about her. He just needed her brain to get them past this stupid wall. Ian. Never. Cared. About. Me. Why should he now? _Wait ―when in the world did that come into her head? It might as well flew out the window now for all the care she was getting.

"You know what Ian, I'm going to go around this, go in a few doors and try to find a way around it because face it, were not Ekats, were never going to get past it!" But Ian wasn't even paying attention. He was too busy studying his map trying to find some clue his dad might have left.

Amy stormed away down the hall and into darkness. _Let's see, I think we turned here._ Amy turned here. _We might have turned here. _Amy turned there too, and after a few turns she was lost in a hallway that looked exactly like the one she had left Ian in. Ian. In. Ian. What was wrong with her? He didn't care about her; he had come back into her life to use her. Her brain. He was using her to find his sister. Amy ran ahead, lost. Lost in a dark world, how fun. She didn't dare to turn around though, because she was afraid it might be his face she saw.

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A/N: Super long? Nice isn't it.


	11. Chapter 10 Ian

**_Ok, thank you all for reviewing._**

_

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_

"Whoever said happiness comes from sunshine, has never danced in the rain."

Ian studied the wall carefully, analyzing every bit of its metallic structure, the steel grey coloring, and the thin lines of electricity that ran through the wall. He wanted to see what would happen when he touched it, would it shock him? Make him feel alive? He hoped so; he hadn't felt alive for a while, ever since Natalie had been taken. Was this how Amy had felt when she had been separated from her brother in China? It was a horrible feeling.

Crack. The wall's electricity cracked in front of him. This wasn't fair, there wasn't supposed to be a wall here. _Beat it Ian, life isn't fair. _

"This is so unfair Amy," Silence. "Amy? Helloo―" Ian turned around, but no one was there. Well, his map and backpack were, but they didn't count as the living. There was no girl with jade eyes, no, nothing. Zip. Nada. Ian couldn't think of any other words that meant no.

"Amy!" Ian screamed through the hallway, making his voice echo through the room, _Amy, Amy, Amy. Dan is going to kill me. _Now he was thinking about how Ian and Dan had made that deal, Ian take Amy to the stupid Vesper base, so then Dan could do his "secret ninja training" when Amy was gone. Secret ninja training? Poor Amy, had to live with that dude. "Amy!" No response. Had he said something? _No, Ian, you are too perfect to do something like that. _

There weren't many options here, go after Amy, which was option one. Option two, stay near the wall and wait for Amy to be shot by some drunken Vesper. Well, when you put it that way. . . .

Ian dashed down the corridor, but not before picking up his map and backpack. _Another time fellows,_ he thought stuffing the map into his bag. _Family comes before secret agent work. Family. _Was that all he felt about Amy? _Don't think about that now, stupid, find the damsel in distress! Damsel in distress, did he think Amy was a . . . damsel in distress? Didn't damsels in distress have to be hot? I mean, not like Amy isn't. _

_Shut. Up. Ian._

He continued to run down the long hallway. Which way would Amy go? Probably back to Nellie so they could ditch him and go back to Dan at their house. Exit, which way was it? Left. Ian turned left. _Take out the map stupid. Or you can sue someone, _a little part of him was saying. _Who are you going to sue?_ Ian argued back o himself.

_Ugh. _

"Amy!" He screamed again? _Hey, she's the one that ditched you, just leave her. Not in your lifetime buddy._

That was when Ian heard the scream. It was long and scary, like the ones you here in horror movies.

Ian ran. Legs pounding on the floor, his arms swinging wildly at his side, breathe getting heavier than before, and he could see his breath in front of him from the cold air. Ian turned another corner. Another scream. He turned again to the sound of Amy's voice, and then again. It was like a game of Marco-Polo, where Amy would scream and Ian would try to find a way to her in this maze.

"Amy!" His voice hardly came out at all, with all his wheezing from the running, but it did succeed in making a muffled cry that sound more like "A-huh, huh. . .. " When Ian turned the corner, he was prepared for the worse, maybe a Amy on the ground surrounded by blood, or maybe some crazy Vesper holding a knife above her, but. . . .it was the exact opposite.

Ok, well, not exactly, there was a Vesper, but she wasn't drunk and crazy. Also, there was Amy, except some of her hair was singed, just the tips, and she was covered in soot. It didn't count as blood, but, it wasn't the same Amy that had run away from him.

"Amy, oh god, are you ―" Helping Amy up was a Vesper girl, with black hair, black clothes, and black combat boots. She also had a gun at her hip instead of a sword, and she too was covered in soot. "Uh. . . . what's going on? Amy, you do know that she's the person that tried to kill me on the plane, you do know that?" He didn't know if he should be angry of confused, but he liked confused way better now.

"What are you doing here, Lucian? This is a Vesper base, located under ground so people like you wouldn't find it. What. Are. _You._ Doing. Here." Ian knew his smart talking wasn't going to win this round, so he decided to try a different method.

"Just looking for a way around that electric wall, know any?" He as getting out of here with Amy and himself alive, Dan style. Yes, it was desperate, and totally disgraceful, but hey, desperate people do desperate things.

Carrie actually smiled, didn't think a girl like her could do that, I mean, she was raised in the bloodiest family alive, but, that sounded too much like the Lucians. . . .

His father had told him to never trust them, that Cahills and Vespers could never work together, and that they only want his blood. That had been a big one, they wanted his blood. His father told him that so many times, when Ian was little, he thought they were vampires.

"I see you are not that smart, and that your resources are not accurate." Carrie put her arm around Amy's shoulder, helping her up from the floor.

"Hey, h-hey, Ian." Amy said, her voice shaking from whatever had happened.

"What happened?"

"O-oh, t-this, its no big deal."

"What did she do to you?" His voice raised, anger flowing out of his mouth, unstoppable.

"Nothing, moron." Carrie said, placing herself between him and Amy. _It's not Amy I'm going to attack, it's you. Oh well, clearer target. _"Traps. Snares, pitfalls, how many more do you want. Triggers, theirs a good one. Your girlfriend stepped on one, and set of this wall of fire, deadly, if I wasn't there to stop it. Same with your electric wall, you set off a trap, BAM! Wall goes up. It's elementary." She shrugged like it was nothing.

"So what are _you _doing here?" Ian asked.

"I might ask the same for you, cause last time I checked, this was a Vesper base, not some Lucian one."

"W-were looking for someone." Amy said, speaking up for the first time.

"Your sister? Well, let me tell you, she's not even at this base, she's at the one in Alaska, yes Ian, we have a base in Alaska. Second, she's long gone. Your daddy came and picked her up, killing a handful of Vespers' along the way." Carrie's face darkened.

"W-wha?" that was Amy.

"I told you, he killed the whole base, if I wasn't sent away for trying to kill you," she nodded at Ian, "I would have been there too. Dead."

"So what are you here for?" Ian stressed.

Carrie shot him a death glare. "If you must know, I'm here because I'm looking for answers. Your dad sent a letter, and a lot of the things on it weren't true."

"Like what?"

"Well, he mentioned Hitler being a Vesper, and he's not. Unless he had a mom Vesper and a dad Lucian, he's not Vesper. And, well, there is a girl you know who is one. . . ."

"One what?"

"Vesper. I'm also looking for her and her brother."

"Who is it?"

"Your never going to guess, moron."

"Try me."

"It's Amy." Ian looked at Amy.

"No, she's Madrigal." Ian claimed, trying to convince himself more than Carrie.

"Her dad's a Vesper, he left us to help his wife in the 39 clues hunt. So, that makes us allies," Carrie said to Amy, "We can help each other, don't you seem we have so much in common! Our parents were both killed by the Kabras, we were both left with a younger sibling to look after! Amy, your one of us too, you know."

Ian's head whirled. _Amy? A Vesper?_ Amy looked between him and Carrie, as if deciding on who to ally with, or who was speaking the truth.

"Amy, you have Vesper blood in you. You and Dan are here! Proof that Vespers and Cahills can join hands, your parents didn't see each other as enemies, they took a huge step forward." Carrie pleaded.

"Very dramatic Carrie, but don't you see Amy? You're a Madrigal, the peace makers, you and Dan." Ian shot back.

Amy placed her hands on her head. "Just shut up, both of you! As you can see, Ian, Carrie isn't the enemy. Carrie, Ian isn't the enemy . . . .. "

"What are you trying to say Amy?" Carrie demanded.

"If your saying you're going to partner up with her, I'm coming too," Ian said, then realized what he had done. "What I meant to s―"

"Oh Ian, you would? We all could be allies; I'm working my Madrigal duties to a bigger scale!" Amy said dreamily, "The union of the Vespers and the Cahills!"

* * *

"Look out Amy!" Dan screamed as a bunch of paper flew past her head, barely missing her. Dan had a bunch more of them, and was throwing them around the room. _This was his "secret ninja training?" _Throwing pieces of paper around the room? When Ian looked closer at the paper he noticed that they were in the shape of a star, excuse me, a ninja star.

"This is what you've been doing while Amy, Nellie, and I are risking our lives? You're throwing paper around the house?"

"Not paper, ninja stars! My friend at school thought me how to make them, and then I realized that if I wanted to become a real ninja, I'm going to have to start somewhere!"

Carrie stepped through the room, analyzing their situation. She shook her head. "No, these are too small, your going to have to make bigger ones. Ninja's don't use things this small," she said, holding one up."They would rather use a bigger one. Here, let me help you." Carrie went off with Dan to his room, probably helping him make more stars.

"And you thought Carrie wouldn't get along with Dan," Amy said, "You know she has two younger siblings. She's like me, I guess."

"Don't turn into someone like her, Amy, I don't want you jumping into planes attacking the kids of the people who killed your ―" Ian stopped when he realized that _he _was the kids of the people that killed her parents. "Hey, about my parents . . . .. "

"It's ok Ian, want to here a quote I found on the internet?"

"Sure."

"Sincere forgiveness isn't colored with expectations that the other person apologizes or change, don't worry whether or not they finally understand you. Love them and release them. Life feeds back truth to people in its own way and time."

"Nice."

"It means I forgive you, Ian. I forgive you for what your parents did, or for whatever you did, back in Korea." Amy said, and as she said that, she raised her head until she was looking directly into his eyes, like she expected to find something there.

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A/N: Next chapter, next week! Join us next week! Have a nice day.


	12. Chapter 11 Natalie

**I'm reading Breaking Dawn now, the begining is horribly boring, but the end is so awesome! I know, that was random, but I'm telling you not to quit at the Jacob part, cause it get's better. (Half the people I know quit there, so. . . yeah.)**

**Thank you for reviewing, or reading, or whatever.**

**Now. . . . .on with the story!**

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_Maybe the reason why,_

_All the doors are closed,_

_So you can open one that leads you down the perfect road._

- "Fireworks" Katy Perry

Natalie pushed her ear onto her father's mahogany door, until she could hear words coming from the other side. She had no idea where this rebellious side of her had come from, but it had come.

"There's no time Cora . . . . . there are something's that are best to stay hidden," Vikram Kabra said into his telephone, "I know what they are. . . .yes. . . . you don't understand!" Angered, he slammed the phone down, making a loud bang sound. Natalie pulled her ear away from the door, but only for a second.

"Why does it have to be this frustrating?" He whispered, placing his hands on his head, like he was trying to calm an angry headache. Whoa. . . . this was the great Vikram Kabra, leaders of the Lucians, when he was stressed. There were so many things going on now, so many lies, and so many things that could be found out . . .

He quickly picked up his note and left them in a stack on his desk. It was good timing too, because Natalie stepped into the room at that moment.

"Father, we ran out of facial cream, and I wanted to know if you would get some, or if I should run and get some," Natalie hesitated, "I-I. . . .never mind." Some cover up. Her father eyed her suspiciously, but Natalie felt certain the thought that she had been spying on him never crossed his mind. He was probably far to worried about her stuttering.

"All right," He said, patting the top of her head, "Maybe tomorrow you and one of the servants can go out with you and buy some." He walked away, carefully closing the door behind him. Natalie stared at her fathers back, until he descended down the stairs and she could no longer see him. Curiously, Natalie peeked into the peephole, wondering if she would see something like in the movies, but those things were only movies. All she could see through the peephole was darkness.

Her father had been spending a tremendous amount of time in his office, leaving Natalie alone to wander the house and try to stay out of the servants' ways. There were far too many of them, and half of them weren't needed anymore, considering that Ian and Isabelle were gone. Ian was somewhere, for she had left him chasing after her at the mall. Her mother. . . . her mother was a sore spot to talk about, and it hurt her to even think about her. For the longest time, she had been her idol, the perfect mum, always buying her whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted. . . . . and Natalie had been to foolish to see her dark side until it was too late. She twisted her foot uncomfortably; the one Isabelle threatened to shoot.

She felt like a child, right now she craved for someone's attention ― anyone's. For a moment she thought of Dan, her foolish cousin, but quickly banished that thought. _Father would not be pleased, _she convinced herself. Why she still wanted to please him, that was another thought, another one she banished from her mind.

Quietly she went to her room and lay down on her bed, thinking only happy thoughts: her mother, father, and Ian, together and happy. More facial cream, she's been getting a lot of pimples lately with all the stress, life before the 39 clues. Yes, that was what she wanted, life before the 39 clues. Her father would still love her, her mother would be here, Ian wouldn't be in love with Amy, and she would have never lost her power to those Cahills, Amy and Dan. _I was supposed to win,_ she complained, _and instead of winning I've lost everything. _Soon, her eyelids began to grow heavy and she had to force herself to stay awake, but the growing urge to sleep overtook her, and she quickly lost conscious.

When she woke up, her room was dark, along with the rest of the house. It wasn't to dark that scared her, it was the cars that passed by that did, every _vroom! _and Natalie would freeze, shivers running up her spine. She crept down the stairs, because she had forgotten to put on her cream, it was bad to forget. When she reached the bottom, she saw a light ahead, and rubbing her eyes, she went looking for it.

When she found the source, it was the cracks around her father's door making it. Inside she could hear him mumbling, something about. . . . she couldn't tell. Unhappily, she pressed her ear to the door.

"Soon. . . . yes, thi. . . .dangerous. I. .. . . . n. . . .different. . . . .Natalie." Natalie, whoa. . . . he was talking about her! Suddenly the mumbling stopped and she heard footsteps, footsteps coming towards the door. Quietly she moved behind a plant and held still.

Vikram Kabra stepped out of the room, still in his usual tux, but with bags under his eyes. Even in the dark she could see the purple shade under it, and Natalie wondered what it was from. _Could it be her? _Still half asleep, he walked down the hallway, out of site.

Natalie could breathe again, and she left out a heavy sigh of relief. She stood up from her hiding place, and noticed something―her father had left his door open! _Ha, that's what you get for being half asleep! _Filled with curiosity and doubt, she entered the room and turned on the desk lamp, hoping it wouldn't wake up the whole household, she also shut the door and locked it.

Inside the room, it was musty and old, books lining the shelves, half of them covered in dust. The room was an eerie red color, but it wasn't from the lamps lighting, it seemed to be the reflection of something. There were no windows, and along with the desk and bookshelves, that was it. Natalie sat down on a chair by the desk and looked around. There weren't many things to see, several books open, others with bookmarks in it, and a folder and pen. She opened one of the books and read the entry; it turned out to be quite boring, not much to her surprise. Some dude, blah, blah, died at the end.

Natalie looked at the manila folder on the desk and for a moment hesitated, but then opened it.

Another streak of rebellion . . . . but what was she rebelling from?

Inside the folder were a bunch of printouts from the internet, with all the ads still on it. The paper was about some person named Nicholas Flamel, and highlighted at the end was his death. Boring! She flipped a few pages back and read the entry. Mansa Musa. Who names their kid Mansa Musa? At the bottom the death was highlighted. _This is lame, _Natalie thought, _why would my father spend all his time in here?_

Then she noticed something, on each page at the bottom, the date of the person's death was highlighted. She turned the page; this person was murdered twenty five years ago, flip. Murdered. Flip, died of poisoning, flip. Murdered. She continued to flip the pages, murdered, shot, died in a plane crash, and reported missing. When she turned the page, the face that appeared startled her, because. . . . it was her mother. Isabelle's face was smooth and perfect, her hair tied up in a pony tail and she was wearing a black leather jacket. Natalie turned to the bottom of the page, in jail for attempted murder. Well, what did she expect to read, murdered? No, her mother was very much alive, and that was what scared her the most.

She continued to flip through, each person's life ending the same way, well, except for a few like her mother, but even then their status wasn't that good. Natalie continued to search until she came to the last page. This person's packet was about five pages and there were no pictures of him. At the top it read, Damien Vesper, and at the end, highlighted in a bright yellow color read, murdered by a best friend.

* * *

Ditching the servant was the easy part, the hard part was finding Ian's phone number, and where he was staying. But even that wasn't that hard, considering that Ian mumbled a lot about Amy in his sleep.

"Hello?" Someone answered. A girl, not Amy's voice, probably their baby-sitter.

"Hello, this is Natalie ―"

"Natalie Cobra?" she interrupted.

"―Yes, Natalie _Kabra._" She was irritated with the nickname Amy and Dan had come up with.

"Hey!" Nellie screamed, "it's Natalie!" On the other end of the phone, she could make out running footprints. The phone was grabbed from Nellie, and Ian's voice was heard.

"Natalie!"

"Ian!" _Why was she so excited to hear her brothers voice, after all he had done to her?_

"Natalie, where are you?"

"I'm at dad's. . . ." so weird calling him that, "I need to know what's going on, and I have to tell you something." She quickly told Ian what she had found. "I thing the Vesper's aren't really the bad guys. . . " Not knowing how to put this, she let her voice trail off. _Vespers? Not the bad guys? I must be dreaming. _

Ian was silent.

"I know you don't believe me, but dad has so much information. . . . . There's a base that has all of this and more, it's in Nevada. Area 51, I believe."

"Natalie. . . ."

"Dad's been keeping too much, I'll meet you there in a few days, ok?"

"Natalie. . . ."

"See you there Big Brother." And with that she hung up.

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A/N: Area 51 is a real place by the way.

I believe Isabelle Kabra is a Vesper too.

Mansa Musa is real too.


	13. Chapter 12

**I only got two reviews last chapter, so I'm thinking. . .what happened?**

**I changed the summary, that's what.**

**So the summary will be back to normal, (the same as before) and it will be off. (like not accurate) **

**You won't even realize it until you get to this chapter and I tell you the summary isn't accurate.**

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"_To the world you might be one person, but to one person you might be the world."_

**Jeff**

It's kinda scary running through a forest, with its dark leaves and thin branches that snap under your feet. It's even scarier is running through a forest as if your life depended on it. Owls stared at him, twisting their heads around in unnatural angles, spiders hung from their webs, waiting for prey, and mice crawled underneath everything. _There shouldn't be forest here. . . . _He thought to himself, _were in Nevada for crying out loud! Middle of the desert mean anything to you Mother Nature?_ To himself he responded, _Of course not, Jeff. _God he hated nature, with all its pretty flowers and bright green trees, the words "happiness" was written all over it. Not that he didn't like happiness; it just didn't go well with the situation they were in. Running for their lives, being chased by angry weirdo's, intercepting and eavesdropping on phone calls, stealing food from old ladies that were too helpless to defend themselves, that sort of situation. Not that he liked it, stealing from the helpless; he just didn't want Annie and him to starve. Another branch snapped beneath him.

"Shhhh!" Annie said, bringing her finger up to her mouth and scrunching her eyebrows together, "Were in Lucian territory now." Lucian territory. _They get a freakin name while our bases are under the ground. _Vesper base, LA territory, or Vesper base, Minnesota territory. He was concentrating on this, a thin smile caked onto his lips. _Crack! _Another stupid branch. He swore.

"Shut it Jeff or the whole base is going to lock itself down and we'll never get what were looking for." Annie snapped.

Arg.

What were they looking for? Oh yeah, some stupid folders with "important information that could be important for all the Vespers to know about". _I hope I don't die in the process of it. . . I want to die a heroic death, ya know? _They had been listening to a phone conversation supposedly between the two Kabra kids, Natalie and Ian. Natalie had been all about these folders in some Lucian base in Area 51, Nevada. Then she had said the words. "Maybe the Vespers aren't the bad guys. . . ." Words that changed the way he thought, the way he thought about the Cahills. _Were the bad guys? In your dreams. _Another branch cracked under his feet.

"What t―" Annie slapped him on the arm cutting off his sentence, making more noise that he had been currently.

"Shut it, boy. Were almost there, its right up ahead." She pointed, and there in the clearing behind a few trees was a huge building. It looked like one of those abandoned factories but without the giant things at the top sending gas into the sky. It was a metallic grey color, with only a few doors and a stair case that lead had a door to each level all the way to the roof. It was probably a fire escape, except no one would be escaping from it.

"How do you want to do this?" Annie asked.

"How about one person goes in, the other stays outside incase of trouble. I'll go inside, look for the folders, then come back outside and give them to you and were off!"

Worry seeped into Annie's face, her brows coming together slightly. "What if . . . what if something happened to one of us? I don't want to be separated from you if things go wrong."

"That's why nothing will go wrong, Annie," He walked closer to the building, "Well, I'm going in so wish me luck!" With that, he started making his way for the base. Doubt started creeping into his mind, planting seeds of worry all over his thoughts. _I mean, what if Annie IS right and Lucians were here. What if. . .. _"What if" were deadly words.

"Jeff . . . . " Annie said behind him like all she wanted him to do was come back. _Whatever, loser. I'm making my own choices now. _Annie had been his best friend ever since he could remember, or at least until Carrie had come. Then Annie decided that she wanted to hang around with girls and talk about nails and boys. Ugh. But it still was nice to hear her concern for him.

"Good-bye Annie," he said without turning around, "You'll always be my best friend." Great. That sounded so much like he was on a suicide mission. Well, he probably was, considering the odds. He didn't want Annie doing this. It would be way safer if she waited outside like a good girl, so then if anything happened she could run and get help, or just run.

He continued to walk closer, until he was standing right outside. He patted the wall as if it were his dog. _So far, no cameras. That's good, don't want the whole world knowing were here. _He quickly climbed up the fire escape, then turned around to get a good look at Annie. She was hidden up in the trees, probably climbed one for a better view. If you didn't know where to look, you would never know she was there. _Why did he care so much for her? _He asked himself. _Because she's like a little sister to me, I'm allowed to care for little sisters, right?_

Jeff opened the door. Inside the carpet was a maroon color, but because of the reflection the whole room was. There were first aid kits everywhere, lying on desks, half open on the ground. He shrugged and walked on. The rooms and hallways were all the same, red carpet, silver walls, pictures of the Kabras hanging on every wall. _Jerks. If I had a marker I would draw on your faces. _

He was looking for an office, or a library with lots of folders. Strangely, it was really empty there, and all the doors so far were unlocked. Jeff opened another door. Inside of it was a massive library, its shelves reaching all the way to the ceiling, with rows of books, old and new, and in the center was a giant desk overflowing with folders. _Ha! I found it! _And if not he could search another room . . . _I mean it's not like there's anyone here to stop me._

Overjoyed, he sprinted over.

About halfway there he heard a clicking noise.

Then a deafening beep.

And then the ground started to shake.

A huge pain filled into his body. . .

And pictures of his Mother, Father, and Annie smiling danced in his mind.

Then the world went dark.

**Annie **

Annie was hiding in the trees leaves when she saw one side of the base blow up. Startled, she climbed higher to get a better look.

And then she felt the tree start to shake. She hung onto it for dear life, and listened as she heard the ground rumble. It was a deafening and terrifying sound.

Slowly, it stopped, but only for a second. She felt herself being thrown away from the tree, orange and red spots dancing in her mind until she realized. . .

It was at that moment that everything went wrong.

**Carrie**

"So what's the plan?" Dan asked again for the fifth time. After receiving four deathly glares from his companions, he held his arms up and replied, "Hey, I just wanna make sure that I'm ready, cause, you know, were in enemy territory now. "

"Amy, Carrie and I," Ian began, "Will enter the base and search for the files. You and Nellie will wait outside and make sure that no one bothers us." He paused and took out a bottle of water to drink. _That looks like a great idea, _Carrie thought taking out her water bottle. They were hiking to the Lucian base, the sun beating down on their backs causing them all the sweat more than the average amount.

"Hey dudes," Nellie began, sniffing the air, "What's that smell? It smells like . . . something's burning."

Everyone began to sniff the air. It did smell like fire, the sharp smell filled Carrie's mind. Ack! They were sweaty, tired, and hungry and now this? Dan, who had ran up ahead had paused, then turned around.

"I think were a little late." Everyone ran now, until they could see the burning building. Smoke rose into the air, covering the whole sky with grey. Why didn't see this before, Carrie had no idea.

"Oh my god. . ." Carrie began. They began to make their way towards the fire, but the smell was too great. That was when Carrie heard the sob. It was more like a hiccup, but it was still a human sign of life. She ran towards that direction until she tripped over something. . . . someone. Carrie grabbed what she thought were the arms, they could have been the legs too, and dragged out of the fire.

In grayish light, Carrie could make out singed black hair, a face and a body. Patches of the girls clothes were burnt along with many parts of her body. They looked horrible, but the girl didn't seem to notice. Just looking at the girl made her sick, until the girl opened her eyes and Carrie realized that she had seen them before somewhere. She gasped.

"Hi . . . .Carrie," Annie forced out. She hiccupped. "I . . . thought that was you." Hiccup.

"Annie, what. . ."

"Jeff and I were here, we over heard the Kabra kids talking . . . on the . . .phone. We wanted to. . . find file. . . forgot that bases were . . . .had . . . . traps. It blew up the base," She sobbed, "He was . . . in there still."

"Annie. . . ."

"What's . . . heaven like?" Annie asked, "What if I get lost along the . . .way. I. . . don't want to go . . to hell. You're. . . the most perfect out of. . .us. . .Carrie. How. . . .do I get there?"

"I don't know Annie!" She screamed. Why in the world was she worried about something like that? "Why are you so worried about dying, you're not going to die!"

"I. . .can't feel my body." Carrie realized now why Annie couldn't feel all the burns and tears threatened in the corner of her eyes. Sometime in the explosion, Annie must have hurt herself, causeing a spinal injury. She decided to go along with Annie's final request.

"I can't be sure Annie, but I think heaven is white, and it's in the clouds. No one there cares about what people look like or the mistakes people made before. It's . . . heaven," Carrie replied. Annie closed her eyes, her lips forming a smile, "I think that the people there wear white too, and all of them are beautiful."

"Thanks. . . maybe I'll find Jeff along the way. . . .and we'll go there together. Maybe I'll . . .see you there . . . .too, one day." With that Carrie felt the life leave Annie's body.

"There are people there, Annie, in heaven, and they'll welcome you with open arms. And there's probably a God there too. And he's. . .he's looking down at our world shaking his head. He's thinking, 'What a mess you've made . . . . made of my perfect world'."

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A/N:

Yeah . . . Annie and Jeff died. So sad.

La da de dum . . . . im happy.

We have two weeks off of school.

So I can write more!


	14. Chapter 13 Nellie

**Oh yeah, I have plans for about five more chapters and an epilogue. And an authors note.**

**Plus, I know I spelled Isabel's name wrong in the last few chapters, sorry.**

**I also know that the story line is kinda confusing. This chapter is a little confusing too, so I'm adding a very brief summary at the end in the authors note. Have fun reading and reviewing. **

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"_There are no extra pieces in the universe. Everyone is here because he or she has a place to fill and every piece must fit itself into the big jigsaw puzzle." –Deepak Chopra_

Nellie took another bite of chocolate ice cream cookie sandwich. Cold, delicious, awesome. Another bite.

Ian was pacing in front of her, hard in thought. _Dude, you're the only one that's freaking out on the Lucian base explosion._ Amy was on the computer reading what the online stories were about Area 51 and its explosion. Carrie was in her room, aka. their guest room, crying over the realization that her friends weren't dead, well, more like weren't killed when the rest of the base was. Dan. . . Dan was another story. She wasn't even going to think about where Dan was. _Probably rolling around in the dumpster, or online shopping for ninja swords. Oh god, don't let Dan spend fifty bucks on a plastic sword again._

It had come in the mail a few days ago. Dan had ripped the brown box off like a child would open a Christmas present, and then just stared at the sword. "Plastic," he had said, "Spray painted, can't even cut through a piece of paper without getting a paper cut . . . . this is so cool!"And then he ran off with it only succeeding in scaring Saladin, who ran across the house with Dan chasing after him.

_What a sad day yesterday had been, _Nellie thought, _Ian lost a base, Carrie lost a friend, Dan and Amy, Dan and Amy didn't loose anything. Oh yeah, Dan lost his inhaler in the smoke, and Amy lost her hair clip. _Nellie decided to mourn all of their losses after chocolate ice cream in a sandwich.

Ian paused, the banged on his forehead. "Man, I'm so stupid!" _We know that already kid; tell us something we don't know, like when you're going to ask Amy out. _Nellie smiled at her joke, making Ian frown.

"How were you supposed to know that Jeff and Annie were listening to your conversation, let alone alive? Dude Ian, you didn't know. How about this, maybe the files weren't even there, your beating yourself up for no big reason."

"I'll sue whoever blew up the base! I will. Give me a phone or a car and I'll sue! I had plenty of good pictures of myself in that base, you do know that?" Ian screamed. Nellie waved her spoon at him like a wand, as if she were trying to turn him into a frog.

"You're forgetting that the person that set of the trap thingy of yours is dead. Long gone, not even a body was found." Nellie said, even thought the thoughts of a body lying around there made her sick. She had seen what the explosion had done to Annie, and she was a mile away from it. Nellie took another bite of the ice cream as if it could make everything better. She really wanted to turn Ian into a frog right now, and then lock him up so no one would be able to kiss him and break the spell.

The timer on the stove rang, meaning it was time for Nellie to go to work. _With Fiske gone so much, someone has to pay the rent for the house._ Nellie thought glumly. _And unfortunately that person is me._

"Bye kiddo's, look's like I'm going to have to finish my ice cream later." She dumped everything into the freezer and then walked out. Out side the sky was a perfect blue, with small clouds that looked like it was torn off a piece of cotton candy.

On the porch steps was Dam, a book sitting on his lap. Nellie rubbed her eyes. _Dan reading a book? _She rubbed her eyes again. _I'll get my eyes checked later, I'm already late for work._

Nellie drove her car out of the driveway and headed off to work.

When she arrived she was instantly greeted by Frisk, Grace Cahills brother.

"We need you to find some information on the Vespers, there has been a Lucian base explosion recently, and we have a good hunch it was Vesper movement." _Your hunch is correct sir; just your suspects are long gone. Off to heaven, at least that's what Carrie believes. _

"Dude, piece of cake." Nellie responded and headed to her office. She turned on her computer and located the internet icon on her desktop. _I like this place, _she thought, _free computers and free coffee in the morning. Except for the fact that I'm to youngest worker here . . . being surrounded by old dudes' isn't that bad. _

Then she decided to do something. She minimized the internet and opened the program that kept all the Vesper files. Amy was upset somewhere at home, Ian was pacing around the kitchen beating himself up, Carrie was crying in her room, and Dan . . . Dan had picked up a book a started reading it. She still couldn't get that picture out of her mind. Anyways, they were all so worried about this, and here she was, with perfect access to all the information they could ever want! God was she stupid.

"Hurry up," she mumbled, and then looked at the door_. Don't want anyone coming in here while I'm working._ She got up and closed the door. When she sat down again the program was up and running. She clicked the open button and scanned through the list of folders. _Lucian? No. Janus? No. Ekat? No. Tomas? No. Gideon and his family? Probably not .Then came Vesper._ She opened the file. There was a list of all the known Vespers, then some letters. _They really don't have that must information on Vespers, do they?_

Nellie opened the list of Vespers. They were all ordered alphabetically, and Nellie opened the first one and read. And then the next one, and the next, until she hit Annie's, which was the fifth or sixth one. Carefully she changed the status from alive to dead. Then she scrolled down to Jeff's and changed his statues too. She read a little more, and from what she could tell the information wasn't even that accurate.

Nellie opened the letters. There were three old fashioned letters, and when she zoomed in on the image the words actually became legible. She read the first one.

_Damien Vesper-_

_Do you remember the when we were young boys and you asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up? You had said that the future is coming, and that a strong man is prepared for what life throws at him. I responded that I wanted to be a scientist and create things to help the world! Medicine that could heal the greatest sickness! Drinks that could cause you to become all powerful and rule the world! You had laughed and said someone like me would never be a scientist. You needed money to gain supplies, and that was something I didn't have. Well, in the end, I decided not to listen to your constant laughing. I became one, and because of that my family suffered. I need your help, please. _

_Your once friend-_

_Gideon Cahill_

Nellie enlarged the second one and read it. It was Damien's response to Gideon's letter.

_My Friend Gideon,_

_Yes, I do remember asking you that question once, and I do remember laughing at your response. I hear your concerns, your prayers my friend. I will help you because of the man you once were, for the men we once were. But let me warn you, one slip up and I will forget all of our history, or friendship. I don't want it to have to be like this, enemies, but maybe our friendship will be united . . . friends. _

_-Damien Vesper_

_These are weird dudes, _Nellie thought, _old men talking about friendship and stuff. _She shrugged and read the next one.

_Family of Damien Vesper-_

_Please, before you burn this letter in the flame, it is not what you think! He did not die with his blood on my hands; I pray that you will listen! I can not explain why we were on the road but he was killed by bandits, bandits took his life!_

_I know you do not believe me, for I was not the kindest man in the world, but hear me out. He died on his own, like he planned it like this. His last words were, "Do you ever look at the sky, and nothing but darkness, and do you wonder, why are there no stars in the sky today? Then slowly, you see a white star appear, then a yellow, then red one. . . . They are the most beautiful things. That will be our family in the generations to come, the generations after us Gideon. They cannot continue to live like this, enemies. Did you know that your best friend is your worst enemy because they know all your secrets? But they are also your strongest ally; they will fight with you to the death. We are best friends, but what path do you wish to take, ally, or enemy?" _

_I do not understand the meaning of this nonsense he spoke of, and best friend is just that, a best friend. My brain grows older by the minute, and I had to watch as my family separated. I do not have the strength to fight anymore. Our families don't have to fight anymore. You may do whatever you want now with this letter, if you have not thrown it in the flame already. Our children's children, and then their children after that, I do not understand! But I am innocent; Damien Vesper did not die from my hands._

_-Gideon Vesper_

Nellie reread the letter again. Judging by the dates, the Vespers hadn't burnt down Gideon's workshop, and the first two letters were written weeks before Damien was supposedly murdered by Gideon. She stuck her flash drive into the computer to download everything and then shut it off. _Why would the Madrigals be hiding all this information? But then, who knows how trustworthy Gideon is . . . for all I know he could have stabbed Damien in the back and then ran off to write the letter. God this was frustrating! _

_One clue just leads to more questions, _Nellie grumbled, _I don't have time for this; I'm already breaking out in pimples!_ She looked at the clock, and surprisingly it was already time to leave, I mean, it wasn't like she worked really long shifts. Packing up her things, she silently left the room, hoping she wouldn't run into anyone between her and her car.

Luckily her wishes came true and she backed up from her parking spot and drove back to their house. It was really dark when she got there, all the lights were off and it looked like everyone had locked themselves away in their rooms for the night. She sighed, turning on a few lights and made her way to the kitchen.

_A long day deserves ice cream, _Nellie decided. She opened the freezer door and carefully chose a container of vanilla ice cream. _If I get fat, _she decided, _I'm forcing Amy to go to the gym tomorrow with me. And if I can't drag Amy along I'm sure Ian will come, besides, he's always complaining about all the junk food we have. _She took a huge metal spoon out and stuck it in the ice cream. It was rock hard, or more like ice hard, since it was frozen, but that wasn't going to stop Nellie. _I'm acting like a two year old, _she complained. _Two year olds have it easy; they don't have to worry about people complaining about their bad manners. Dude, this is unfair. _

She stabbed her ice cream again, and this time when she withdrew her spoon a piece of ice cream came out with it. _Bingo darlings, I'm going to have a feast tonight._

_

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_

A/N:

_Summary-_

_Nellie goes to work then turns on computer._

_Sees a bunch of letters between Damien and Gideon._

_Damien was killed by bandits, but the Vespers claim that Gideon killed him._

_Damien says some long speech about friendship, blah, blah, blah. _


	15. Chapter 14 Amy

**I finally was able to read the ****Black Book of Buried Secrets**** or whatever. I was reading it, and no offense, but it was kinda boring. I'm not saying you shouldn't buy it or whatever if you were going to, I mean, it has lots of info, but it's just boring. **

**Also Ian looks ugly. He looks way older than 14 and looks . . . well, whatever. That's my opinion. (sorry if you think he's like really cute.)**

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"_If you ever loved somebody put your hands up.  
If you ever loved somebody put your hands up.  
And now they're gone and you wish you could give them everything._

_I said, if you ever loved somebody put your hands up.  
If you ever loved somebody put your hands up.  
And now they're gone and you wish you could give them everything."_

_-Just a Dream, Nelly_

Amy stared at the computer screen as if willing it to make some information appear. When she had woken up that morning, Nellie had told her about the letters. Letters supposedly between Gideon and Damien Vesper claiming that Gideon did not kill Damien. _To bad they don't have Facebook accounts; you can find tons of information about someone just by looking at their Facebook page._ But Facebook was way after Damien and Gideon's time so Amy was stuck on Wikipedia and other random websites that give way to little information.

Most of them had information, but in very little detail. _Gideon and Damien weren't really well known folks, were they? _Amy exited that website and opened another. This one was even worse. Giving up, she got up and went to the kitchen where Ian and Dan were studying the letters, in peace.

"I think I get it, Damien is saying how since they are best friends, they are also their worst enemies, and that the Vespers and Cahills don't have to fight!" Ian explained.

"Dude, you're basically reading the paper, I already know this stuff," Dan responded, pointing to his brain, "Photographic memories ring a bell? Wait, no." _Never mind, _Amy thought, _this is NOT peace. _

"I know that, but, the only thing we have to find out is if Gideon really did kill Damien. Cause if he didn't, there really isn't any reason why we should worry."Amy reminded them.

"Amy, you should go to bed," Ian began, "your eyes are really bloodshot from looking at the computer screen and your hand looks really tired from writing. Plus your hairs a mess and you're in your pajamas." If Amy had the strength she would have strangled him, commenting like that on her beautiful eyes and hands. But she was too tired, and she realized Ian was right.

"Don't talk to my sister like that you bum!" Dan screamed. _Couldn't they just get along? No. _She replied to herself.

"No, it's alright Dan, I am really tired after all and I was up all night." Amy responded, and then yawned to prove her point. She saw Ian smirk to Dan out of the corner of her eye, and then Dan brought his finder to his neck and pretended to cut it off. The "your dead" symbol. She gave Ian her best "was that smirk really necessary" look, and then slowly climbed the stairs to her room. Once she lowered herself into her room, her eyes closed really quickly, and she was surrounded by darkness.

In her dream she was alone. There was no grass, no trees, no stars, and worst of all no people. But there was a wind, a cold ominous wind that blew her hair into her face from time to time. There was a huge sun in the sky, and she covered her face to shield herself from the rays. The ground was cracked and dry, like you would imagine a desert, just without the sand. "Where am I?" she whispered. And then she ran.

The sun beat down onto her face, causing her to sweat. It was just empty; there were no ways of describing it.

"I'm so alone. So lonely." She complained. It was a horrible feeling, that you could be lost in this place. A tear ran down her face and she didn't bother to remove it. Some people thought tears were signs of weakness, but not Amy, not Grace. Tears mean that something important to you has reached your heart, and that you actually care about that thing. When Grace had died, Amy had cried. She had cried long and hard, because Grace was important to her, and Grace had reached Amy's heart.

"Where is everybody? Someone, please!" then she saw Dan appear, followed by Nellie and Saladin, then Fiske and Ian and then Natalie and Grace. They appeared like a mirage in a desert, but they stayed there. Amy's eyesight danced from the heat and she wasn't sure if she really saw them.

"You're not alone," Dan called, "you have me, you have all of us." Then three more figures appeared, her parents and Carrie.

"Dad, Mom!" Amy screamed, and ran towards them. But no matter how hard she ran, she couldn't reach them. It was like she was running for her life but she wasn't going anywhere. "Why can't I reach you?" she demanded.

Her father put his arm around Dan and the other around Ian. "You can't reach us because you haven't realized all your options. You can't do everything by yourself; sometimes you have to form alliances."

"I don't understand!" she complained. Tears ran down her face in frustration, "Make me understand!"

"Amy!" her mother called to her, "Your family isn't just us, not just the Cahills and the Vespers, it's everyone you care about and love. It doesn't just have to be a mother, father, and sibling." She gestured to Dan. Then she nodded to Ian, Natalie, and Carrie. "What about cousins? Are they your family? Uncles, Aunts, Grandmothers, Grandfathers . . . . . your friends. You're not alone Amy. You are powerful, you are a Madrigal!

"You were never alone, Amy." She finished. They began to disappear, and Amy woke up.

Sweat beaded her forehead, and her dream remained in her mind. _You are not alone, _Amy thought, _there is more to family then just mother, father, and sibling. There are others. . . . _And she realized what the dream had meant.

She ran out of the room and into the kitchen where everyone was looking at the notes she had taken. They were worthless, considering they knew everything on it already. She ran up and grabbed the notes from in front of their faces and ripped them up. She tossed them in the trash. No one had bothered to stop her, they were all too dumbstruck.

"You're not going to heed these anymore," she declared, "Dan, go call Alistair, his numbers in the box next to the telephone. Go! Ian . . . . you know the Holts? Yeah, their numbers on my desk, go get it and phone them. Oh yeah, Dan!" she called. "You want them to meet us here, at our house! Carrie. . . . is there anyone you can trust, someone that doesn't hate Cahills to come over, yes . . . . ok, call them and bring them over. Nellie, find the triplets and Jonah's number and call them. Oh yeah, someone has to call Fiske too! You know what, I'll do that. Ok, let's move it people!" She ran to the telephone and called Fiske, whose number she had memorized in case of an emergency.

He picked up on the first ring. "Fiske! I need you to come over . . . .no time to explain. Bring all your information on the Vespers too. Don't . . . .just come, please." When he finally agreed Amy hung up and ran back into the kitchen.

Dan was sitting down eating a hamburger. "Yeah, Alistair is coming, said he would be here in a few hours, you know, he had to find a pilot for his private jet." Ian ran into the room and confirmed that the Holts would come. He looked tired and stressed out, just from making one phone call. "So what's the game plan Amy," Dan said, "You just wake up from dreamland and demand to get the family together again. I hope the house doesn't burn down." Then he realized what he had said and shut his mouth. He mumbled something but Amy couldn't hear it.

"Yeah," Ian began looking suspiciously at Amy, "what is the plan. You know Vespers and Cahills don't mix, and you have Carrie bringing friends and the Holts, were doomed!" She didn't really want to explain her dream to them, they might think it was nonsense, but she didn't. Amy believed the dream had been sent to her by her parents, or it was her mind thinking of all the possibilities.

"I slept on it." She replied, and that was all she was going to say. Ian shrugged and picked up and apple. He tossed it into the air and watched it fall into his palm three time until he took a huge bite out of it. Carrie and Nellie walked into the room at the same time and both confirmed that the person they were assigned to call would come. Carrie's friend would come in about an hour and Jonah would be here in a day if he could make it to the airport without any inconveniences (his fans) and the triplets in a few hours.

It was weird how everyone just got a call from her and said they would show up.

"So what's the plan kiddo?" Nellie asked.

Amy quickly discussed what she had in mind and then at the end summarized it all up. "Were going to find out what happened to Gideon and Damien."

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A/N: Read and review! I want to try and get 75 reviews by the end of the story. Think it's possible?


	16. Chapter 15 Fiske

**Thank you to whoever reviewed, I appreciate it very much. I also plan to fix everything up once I'm done. So I'm going to finish the story and then fix it up. I'll look at all your review again and then do whatever changes I have to do.**

**This chapter is . . .. . Let us call it weird. **

**Oh, and your Ian/Amy moment will arrive in the last chapter. (one after this one) For keeping you waiting so long I will try and make it the best Ian/Amy moment eva!**

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"_What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others." -Pericles_

Fiske knocked on the door as politely as possible. He was frustrated that Amy had made him take time off of work and bring the most valuable files with him. The Madrigals valued their research, and here it was in his hands like it was just waiting to be stolen. The second problem was the limo sitting outside the house with the license plate "Jonah W". It was making him nervous, I mean, _why on earth would Jonah be here?_

He knocked louder this time when no one answered. Hesitantly, Amy answered the door.

"Uncle Fiske!" she threw her arms around his neck. "Haha! It's good to see you too!" She took the files from his hand and led him inside his own house.

Fiske scanned the room. There were four people there, Jonah Wizard from the Janus, Alistair Oh from the Ekaterina, and two he had never seen before. One had silky blond hair and bright blue eyes, with huge loop earrings. She had a lot of acne and freckles and the palest skin Fiske had ever seen. She was wearing a blue tank top and jeans with a million holes in them and she was Fiske's mind she looked like every teenager should. The second was a boy with a full head of brown hair and brown eyes. Fiske knew he wouldn't like this person by the way he kept polishing his gun as if he were waiting for it to be used. But he looked familiar; his eyes looked like that girl Carrie's. Sad with a little touch of longing.

"Oh," Amy began, "Uncle Fiske, this is Jonah, Alistair, and Carrie, Annabelle, and Kale from the Vespers. Everyone, this is my Uncle Fiske." But Fiske wasn't listening to Amy anymore, ever since she had said the word Vesper he had drowned her out. _Vesper, _it mocked his mind. _Why were they here?_

"Why are they," he nodded to the Vespers. He couldn't bring himself to say the name of their greatest enemies, "here." Something boiled inside of him, anger? Probably not. Fear. Fear for his family, for Amy and Dan. They were sitting in a room of Vespers like they were waiting to be killed. Like a human in the same room as vampires. Dangerous, deadly.

Amy must have noticed Fiske tense because she patted his shoulder. "There here to help us, they have information that we don't have about Gideon and Damien. They could help." Information.

"They probably have everything we already have. How did you get your information?" he demanded. "Did you steal it? I know you have Vesper spies at the bases before. You guys were probably the ones who blew up the Lucian base!" he screamed. Anger flooded his thoughts and came out of his mouth, these were the enemies. He noticed that the boy, Kale had stopped cleaning his gun and had taken the safety off of it. _He's going to shoot me. _

"Uncle!" Dan ran into the room and gave his uncle a huge hug. _Boy they seemed glad to see me; Amy gave me a hug and now Dan too. _Ian stepped into the doorway with Natalie by his side. They both looked tired and beaten and he noticed that a huge pimple had found a home on Ian's nose. _It suits you Ian. _He wanted to say but decided against it.

"Fiske," Amy began, "you know Ian and Natalie, right? The Kabra kids." Fiske noticed that she hadn't said "Cobra kids" she had said "Kabra kids". Amy must have some new respect for them; after all, he was pretty sure she hated them at Grace's funeral. _A lot can happen in a few months, enemies can become friends and an uncle can try and become a father . . . . A failed attempt._

Fiske nodded at them and Natalie nodded back, Ian just stood there staring at him. What was going on in his mind? Fiske really wanted to know.

The doorbell rang; a short buzz as Amy ran to the door. "It's the triplets!" she yelled to the room. Fiske could hear her politely leading them to the room filled with all her . . .

Guests.

She quickly introduced everyone to the triplets, Ned, Ted, and Sinead Starling and then sat down. "Were just waiting for the Holts, I hate to know what type of trouble they caused driving here." She placed her head onto her knees and let out a deep sigh. People mumbled quiet conversations to each other, each as eager as the other to know why they were called here. Fiske noticed that the three Vesper children sat in the corner by themselves, and the boy was eyeing everyone nervously. His mind blinked warnings as he looked at them. _Enemy. Killers. Monsters. _

A few minutes later the doorbell rang again. Amy, tired of walking back and forth slowly got up when a yell came from behind the door. "Open this dang door up or so help me, I will knock it off the hinges." Eisenhower Holt's voice boomed. He banged on the door again, his meaty fist would probably knock a hole in an ordinary door, but this wasn't. _It was once my home, _Fiske thought with a smirk; _of course it would be well protected. I doubt you will break the door, let alone rip if off its hinges before you break a bone._

"Hammer, help me break the door!" _Man, he was impatient._ But Amy had reached the door and opened it already. _Such a shame too, because he would have really liked to see the Holts howling in pain. _

"About time." Eisenhower Holt said, leading his family into the room.

Fiske heard Hamilton Holt mumble something to Amy, and it must have been funny because she let out a quiet giggle. After introducing everyone, Amy got down to business.

"I know you're all wondering why you are here," Amy began, "So, I'm going to start from the beginning." Amy retold how she had gotten a phone call from Ian at school, the whole time Ian was trying to shrink back into the crowd without people noticing. Then how they had gone to the Vesper base and met Carrie there, and how she had joined there team. After she summarized how they had gotten a call from Natalie saying that there was important information about the Vespers at a Lucian base at Area 51, Nevada. "We went there, but we were too late. The base had been blown up by someone or something, and all the files were lost."

Fiske heard Ian mumble that he had lost a lot of good paintings of him too. The Vespers lowered their head, and Dan stopped fidgeting with his ninja stars. Even Nellie had picked up Saladin and had brought him close to her. _There's more to this story, _Fiske realized.

"And then Nellie came home with two letters between Gideon and Damien that were written weeks before Damien's death and about a month before Gideon's," she showed the letters on the screen, and when Fiske read them he realized that the letters were the same one's in his file! Nellie had gotten those letters from Madrigal files! _She is never going to hear the end of this, _Fiske thought.

"Now the only question we have is if Gideon really killed Damien like the Vespers presume." Amy finished and waited for someone to jump in.

"I think that it is true that Gideon is innocent," Carrie had stood up, "I mean, bandit's were common in that area and Damien was a very wealthy man. Bandit's easily could have spotted a glimmer of gold or something left unprotected and attacked them."

"Says the Vesper!" Eisenhower Holt bellowed. "How can we trust them, they are the enemy! Hello, how old are you kid," he pointed at the boy, Kale, "twelve, thirteen? And you're carrying a gun around like that. They were born and raised to be evil!"

"That's not true," this time it was Carrie; "we were raised with stories of the mighty Cahill's, the brave and the powerful, the deadly, and the cursed. We had our share of deaths by your numbers too you know. Vikram Kabra had even sent us a letter stating that you Cahills were responsible for the deaths of the few Vespers that rose to power! Ha! You guys are murderers; half the Vespers are dead now because of you, the other in hiding!" Anger fumed out with her words, and Fiske could literally see smoke coming out of her nose like a bulls.

"It's true," Natalie Kabra stood up, looking small and weak in her girly-girl clothes, "I read from files in my father's office about the Vespers. They were print outs from the Internet of all major Vespers and the ending sentence was highlighted. It was always something bad like "murdered" or "in jail". There were a few newspaper cut outs too, and I . . . I know . . . that the Lucians were at least were responsible for many of those endings." People started to mumble around themselves, and Fiske heard Hamilton whisper to him, "Do you believe her?"

_Did he? Now that was a question. _"I do not know," Was all he replied to the boy, "what I do know is that Cahills and Vespers are actually trying to make peace, and in the future I would be proud to say I was one of the leaders . . . .

But I am not. I do not trust these people." Fiske said the things on his mind spoken. He was a Madrigal, he was supposed to want the peace, but for some reason he did not. He was a peacekeeper, a Madrigal, who failed to keep the peace.

Alistair stood up. He was wearing a black suit and tux that emphasized his silver streaks in his black hair, and he fixed his tie as he stood. "I too have something to say. It seems that the Cahills are just as guilty as the Vespers. I stole a suitcase from a Vesper, and inside were files. One of them had a poem by Damien, and another had a story, also by Damien. The story says what they were doing; they were looking for something when bandits attacked them. It is not specific, but it said something about scarlet. The poem also had something about scarlet, but I am not sure what it means. It could be another clue to the sermon for all we know." Alistair took a manila folder out from inside his suit and read it aloud.

"_Too many words can not describe these wee items, _

_for there are too little of us to fight them._

_Colors of scarlet smear into my face,_

_and life's paths quicken in pace._

_Oh! How I wish that my decedents would not bare,_

_this troubled fate I had to share,_

_with my family of five,_

_and the rest of my friends, the kings of the hive._

_I broke apart from them,_

_they tried to warn me, _

_but I would not listen to thee._

_- Damien Vesper" _

Alistair paused. "That's the end, there's really nothing more." Fiske turned to Amy, who's brain was working extra hard now, trying to process all of this information.

"Wait . . . ." she began, "Read the first line again."

"Too many words can not describe these wee items." Alistair responded.

"The second."

"For there is too little of us to fight them."

"No, that's not it. Read the one about scarlet."

"Colors of scarlet smear in my face."

She stood up and walked to a shelf. Taking a small bottle she looked at it like all the answers were hidden inside of it. _It's the serum! _Fiske realized. _All the answers are probably located in that one bottle._ "Read the one about them breaking apart or something."

"And the rest of my friends, the kings of the hive. I broke apart from them, they tried to warn me, but I would not listen to thee." Alistair paused. "Was that helpful?"

"Very. Dan, I need to speak to you, up in my room. Oh, and the rest of you, wait here a few minutes please, there are drinks in the fridge." They walked up the stairs, everyone looking in there direction until they had turned the corner. Now everyone started to mumble to themselves, trying to figure out what Amy had discovered.

"Yo ― what up peeps!" Jonah Wizard stood on the table. "You wanna hear me sing a song for you? I got a new album coming out soon, and I'll give you all one for free if you pay ten bucks to me right now."

"Hey Jonah! Sit down!" Dan said as he and Amy came down the stairs. "Guess what Amy and I found out!" _Yes tell us, _Fiske thought. _We all want to know. _

"All right." She took a deep breath, " A wise person once told me that family is more than just who's blood you share, it's who you care about and love. I mean, a husband and wife don't share the same blood, but they love each other and that's what makes them family. You see, the Vespers and Cahills, they were like family to each other. Alistair was right! Scarlet is a clue to the serum, but not a Lucian or a Tomas clue, it's a Vesper clue!" People started to mumble.

"Don't you see? I'm not sure if Gideon killed Damien, but I don't believe he did. The last thing they did together was look for the last piece of the sermon, I don't know why, but . . . .

That's the answer. To all our problems. I can't believe that the Vespers and the Cahills still hate each other. Were not enemies, were best friends."

* * *

Fiske recognized a few people. There was Ana Kosara, a Vesper agent who had pretended to be a Madrigal so she could steel files from them. He also saw people he never thought he would ever see again like his long distance niece Ingrid and his sister Beatrice. He would rather never see Beatrice again, she was a wicked person.

Fiske shifted his weight from one foot to the other.

He saw Maleia Kalani, a Tomas surfer and Andras Gergely a Lucian agent. There were others like Lilya Chernove who looked rather uncomfortable, surrounded by people from other branches. People like Chrissy were having a time of their life, making new friends with people, but the first question she would ask would always be, "so what branch are you in?" _So many people. I hope Amy can keep them under control. It wasn't a good idea to have Vespers and Cahills in the same place Amy._

Amy stepped on the stage. Dressed in a blue blouse and jeans, she made her way to the podium. She turned the microphone on and began to speak.

"Hello, my name is Amy Cahill and I am a Madrigal. You may be wondering why you got a letter in the mail telling you to come here, and that will all be explained. Please do not fight with anyone from the other branches and especially with the Vespers." She shot death glares at a couple people. "Just be f-friends for an hour and then you can do whatever you want." _That came out wrong Amy. Don't tell them that or they are going to start killing everyone after the hour is up. _Amy took a deep breath. She was nervous, Fiske could tell.

"S-so now that that is over, I'm going to tell you what we found out. But first, I'm going to start from the beginning."

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A/N:

Read and Review.


	17. Chapter 16 Amy

**Sigh . . . our story is coming to an end. **

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"_They say it takes a minute to find a special person,_

_An hour to appreciate them,_

_A day to love them,_

_but then an entire life to forget them."_

Amy looked down at all the people. Half of them she didn't even recognize, others had faces that were buried somewhere in her memory. She let out a deep yoga sigh. Since Amy was always afraid of crowds, this was among the many things she never wanted to have to do, speak in front of a huge crowd of about a hundred. The worse part was everyone loathed each other down there, and she was afraid they would start killing each other. _Please God, let this last for a few hours, let peace ring out over the hatred they may feel towards each other._

They were in the fields of Atlanta; it was the closest meeting point for everyone to make it. They were outside, and luckily the weather had been merciful, there was only a small breeze and the sky hardly had any clouds in it. Chairs had been set up like an outside wedding, with a pathway in the middle, separating the Vespers and the Cahills. The wooden stage she stood on didn't have curtains, but they did have wings, and some parts squeaked so badly that she was afraid to fall through it. The grass was a lush green; she just wanted to lie on it and never have to do this again.

Amy stepped onto the podium. It made her a foot taller that helped her see above and beyond the crowd.

"Hello, my name is Amy Cahill and I am a Madrigal. You may be wondering why you got a letter in the mail telling you to come here, and that will all be explained. Please do not fight with anyone from the other branches and especially with the Vespers." She shot death glares at a couple people. "Just be f-friends for an hour and then you can do whatever you want."

"S-so now that that is over, I'm going to tell you what we found out. But first, I'm going to start from the beginning." She took a couple seconds to look at her notes but them decided against using them. Ian was standing in the wings, giving her a thumbs up. "You're doing great" he mouths. She let a pitiful smile escape her lips.

People had begun to mumble and Amy had no idea what they were saying. She scanned the audience for a familiar face but found none; they were hidden in the crowd so well . . . .

She felt alone. _Where was Dan? Was he sitting in that crowd expecting me to do the impossible? He should have been here by now. _

"So in the beginning, Ian had called me saying that Natalie had been kidnapped. A few days later he showed up at my school, and we ditched class and went home." She was going to add the part where she thought Dan had been missing too, but that would sound really stupid. "After that we went to a Vesper base where we met Carrie, a Vesper. She quickly became part of our team after that. After all of that we went to a Lucian base because Natalie, Ian's sister, had called saying there was important information at the Lucian base in Area 51, Nevada. But the base had already been blown up by the time we got there. After that, I realized that a wise person had once told me that family is more than whose blood is in you, it's your friends, whoever you love, it's the people closest to you, and the best friend." She paused, letting this entire sink in.

"So what are you trying to say?" Someone for the Cahill section screamed. He was wearing all blue so she assumed he was a Tomas.

"I'm trying to say that Vespers were once Cahill as any of us. I think that Gideon and Damien thought of each other as family, so when Gideon made the serum . . . .

There was a Vesper part in it." Her hunch was correct. The Cahills weren't taking it so well, they had stood up and screamed things like, "you mean I'm related to those pigs?" and "come on, Vespers, this is your lucky day." Someone held up a gun.

"Put that gun away!" She screamed into the microphone. It made a huge screeching sound and the people in the front rows had to cover their ears. She sighed again. _This was way harder than she thought. _The man put the gun away and sat back down. Since a majority of the crowd was now in their seats, Amy began again.

"No, you're not related to them," she said, looking straight at the Vespers. "I'm trying to tell you that family is more than whose blood you share, it's who you care about and love." She pleaded.

Everyone was quiet. They didn't fidget, move, and whisper. It was dead quiet. "I would like to present to you Natalie Kabra, who would like to present you with some information." She stepped off the podium and let Natalie take the stage.

It had been decided earlier that Natalie would present the information she saw in her father's office and then Alistair would present the information he stole from Carrie's luggage. Back at their house, their was a huge fight between who would present it, considering it was Carrie's information first, but it was Alistair who figured out what the information meant. In the end it was decided that Alistair would do it because he was the only one that was able to deliver a convincing speech about it.

Amy sat in the wings, hoping everything would turn out alright and that she wouldn't have to deal with anything. Ian sat down next to her and put his arm around her shoulders. Tired and beat, she allowed herself to rest her head on his shoulder. But just for a second. She pulled away, but he didn't remove his arm.

"You did great," He whispered. "You would make a great lawyer; just make sure the case ends in favor of me. I have a couple of people I have to sue when this is over." Amy smiled at his joke.

"Thanks," she mouthed.

They just sat there until Natalie was done and Alistair went on stage. Natalie took one look at them and then left them alone, to which Amy was very grateful. Alistair was projecting a copy of the poem and then the story. The people in the audience took time to read it, which allowed a few seconds without any screaming, arguing, and whispering.

When Alistair finally stepped off, there was no clapping. There were a few whispers but no talking and screaming. There were little fidgets in chairs supporting that some people were uncomfortable with the situation they were in. Then Amy heard a clapping noise, and when she looked outside to see who it was she saw her brother, Dan, sitting in the far back clapping. Sometimes it just takes one person to go own a certain path, and the rest would follow. And a few did. Others she didn't know, a few she recognized like Annabel from the Vespers and Jonah from the Janus. She even saw Cora Wizard clapping, much to her surprise. Hamilton was clapping the loudest though, whooping in his seat and swinging his cap like a lasso. But a few didn't, and they got up from their seats and walked away. Others just sat their in their seats, not sure if they should leave and get as far away as possible or stand up and cheer.

She smiled, and hoped that this day would change the world.

In the end, many people left without saying anything. Others came up to one of the three speakers, Amy, Natalie, and Alistair, and congratulated them saying that our speeches really "touched" them. Others were weeping, some continued to sit their uncomfortably, unsure what to do. Dan had run up to her and given her a huge bear hug, Nellie and Fiske high fived her, and Natalie had surprised her by saying she would give her a "free lesson on how to dress with style".

"Hey, there's something I want to show you." Ian said, taking Amy's hand and leading her outside. It was about dusk, when the sun was only halfway in the sky and little colors of pink and blue danced together in the sky. There were hardly any clouds in the sky, save a few wisps here and there, and it was the perfect place to look at the sunset. There were hardly any trees in the field they were standing in, but there was a lone tree to their left. Since the branches were low they easily climbed up and from there they looked at the sunset.

Awe filled Amy as the magnificent ball of light lowered itself slowly, and if she looked away for a second she was afraid the sun would disappear on her. Ian was a couple branches above her, and when the sun had set he climbed down to her branch. He smiled a huge grin that would make anyone want to smile back, so she did.

Slowly, he bent down until their face was inches apart and said, "I believe our kiss in Korea was cut short" and then he pressed his lips against hers. Amy clutched the branch next to her as hard as she could, because she really didn't want to fall off now. His kiss was soft and warm, sort of gentle. Slowly, Amy closed her eyes and pushed her lips closer to his, wrapping her arms around his neck. She was no longer afraid to fall.

If anyone looked at the tree, they would have seen two people who wanted each other, two people that looked like they could have been the same person from far away. It was like their bodies were meant to be together, their soul.

When Amy opened her eyes and pulled away slowly, she realized the sun had gone down and they were underneath all the stars. Her awe continued as she stared at them, and she never let go of Ian's hand. His hand was warm and smooth, with no calluses and dry skin.

"They're so beautiful. . . ." she whispered. She felt Ian nod his head beside her.

"I could say that you're more beautiful than the stars, but that would sound too cheesy." He replied. She leaned against him, digging her shoulder into his armpit, and closed her eyes. Taking this as a sign, Ian slowly wrapped his arm around Amy's thin waist and he leaned his head onto hers. Amy felt his hesitation, like he was unsure how far he was allowed to go.

"I'm fine with cheesy." It was true, she spent her whole life reading cheesy love scenes out of books, then dreaming what it would be like to put herself in that scene.

"Ok then, I think that you are more beautiful than that stars. . . . Especially your eyes." He stared into them. "They're beautiful, you know that?" She nodded again and then put her head on his shoulder.

Suddenly she watched as a huge shining star fell out of the sky, its white light blazing but it didn't die out like it should have once it left its home territory, space. Amy realized it was like her, her comfort zone was not this, just like the shooting stars. She was way out of her territory like the shooting star, and she wasn't burning up. She was rocking this place, shining off a huge batch of light on everyone who saw her . . . just like that shooting star. She decided she wanted to be like that shooting star in the future, willing to take steps into unknown territory, and then proceeding in what she believed in. Like a shooting star, she wanted to be a beacon of hope for everyone, showing that sometimes you have to take a step out of your comfort zone and do the things that are right. Because sometimes, it only takes one person to do just that, and then a whole line of people would follow them. _She _planned to be just that person to do that too. Amy felt Ian grip her hand harder, as if to say I have you and I'm never letting go. She squeezed it back, responding to his message.

She closed her eyes and prayed that this moment to drown out all her worries. There was a long list of worries for her to dwell on, her worries about her family, her grades and school, her parents, her brother, her friends, her future, her life . . .

But it did.

* * *

A/N:

Yeah ok, the ending was a sorta a let down, but I did try on it.

Next chapter is supposed to be an epilogue, but it's really long, long like seven pages on Microsoft word. It's about Amy and Ian's kids Hope and Arthur. So stay tuned for that!

And . . . . That's sorry.


	18. Epilogue

**I just realized that some things get deleated when I download it onto fanfiction. I just confermed it. (The Authors Note was longer, but a lot of it was deleated. I'm to lazy to type it all again.)**

**This really isn't an epilogue; it's more like a really long chapter in the future. In this chapter is about Arthur and Hope (Amy and Ian's children) when they go to a fair. (and partly a family reunion)**

_

* * *

_

"Some stories might not have a clear beginning, middle, and end. Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the vest of it without knowing what's going to happen next." -Gilda Radner

**Twenty-Five Years Later**

Amy watched as Hope twirled around in her princess dress and fairy wand. She had brown curls and dimples, pale skin, and jade eyes. When she hopped around, her curls liked to bob up and down like a spring, and it only made her even more adorable. Hope loved to dance, twirling her puffy dress and pretending to turn things into frogs with her wand, something that Amy was never able to do. Well, she was until she and Dan were sent to live with their Aunt.

She never wanted Hope and Arthur to have to go through what she and Dan did. She walked over to the kitchen where Arthur was reading a book. He had gotten that from her, their love for reading and learning. He had brown hair and brown eyes, much like Ian, and he was four years older than his sister, Hope.

"Did you call your Uncle Dan yet, he's supposed to bring the pie for dessert." Amy asked him, pouring a glass of OJ. Arthur mumbled something and walked over to the telephone and dialed Dan's number. Amy didn't stick around to hear their conversation; she had to hurry if she wanted this family reunion to be perfect.

In the next few hours, guests started to dwindle in at different times. Dan and Natalie came first, bringing three whole pies with them.

"Your going to love them," he had said, "I made them myself." Amy worried about the sanity of the pies, and put them in the fridge. She made her way back to the room and within time everyone else came. Some people were there from her childhood, like Dan, Natalie, and Jonah. Others were new, people who had heard Amy's speech in Atlanta. Amy was proud that there were Vespers there too, like Carrie, Kale, Annabel, and some new girl named Tessa. Even thought they sat at the very end of the table, they were still here and Amy smiled at the thought.

At the table everyone talked. They asked about how things were doing with the Vesper/Cahill cause, they asked how Hope and Arthur were doing.

Much to Amy's dismay Arthur snapped back, "Were doing fine. Why do you guys keep asking how were doing." Amy heard a thud under the table and saw Arthur wince. There was a sly grin on Hope's face so Amy suspected she had something to do with this.

"Do you want to see me all dance?" Hope offered, skipping to the center of the room, she began her performance. Hope twirled around, her curls bouncing and a huge grin formed on her face. When she was done, Amy clapped the loudest second only to Dan who's whooping and hat swinging caused much dismay. Arthur didn't even bother to look up that whole time and didn't clap. Hope on the other hand twirled back to her seat and started to eat. Amy heard another thud under the table. Arthur slammed his fist against the table causing them all to go quiet, and he stood up and left. Amy glared at Hope and then left the table to talk to Arthur.

When she caught up to him he was sitting on their sofa looking out of the window. Outside the clouds were grey and the wind blew the trees from side to side hard. Suddenly a cloud moved so the sunlight could get through and a little ray of light shown down onto a building to the left of them. It looked like any moment now you would see angels coming out from between the clouds, surrounded by the light.

"Why'd you name me Arthur?" he demanded, although he had asked that questing hundreds of times by now. "The kids at the middle school keep making fun of me, and I hate it!" A tear ran down his cheek, leaving a small trail wherever it ran.

"Honey," Amy replied. Where was Ian when she needed him? "You know you're named after your grandfather," She continued. "he was an important man."

"So, so important." Arthur mumbled half-heartedly. "Some family I got. I'm stuck with some peppy little sister and a dad who works all the times, oh, and a grandfather whose name is so old fashion people make fun of it." He sighed.

"Your father is a very busy man." Amy defended in her best motherly tone. "He's the one that allows us to live in this huge house and supports us. Arthur, you're very, very lucky." Arthur on the other hand didn't seem to believe her. He glared at her and continued to stare out the window. "Do you think staring out the window is going to help you do anything?" Amy asked as gently as possible. _Raising children was hard. _Amy realized. She put her arm around Arthur's shoulders and patted it. Not a pat like you would pat a dog, more like how you would pat someone's back if they were crying. For a few moments mother and son just sat there and looked out the window. Ian had convinced her to move their family from Boston to London because it was closer to his work, so outside, London's clouds had started to drift off wherever the wind chose to take them and more and more patches of sunlight started to seep through the tiny holes. Arthur remover Amy's hand from his shoulder.

What was wrong with him? She was trying very, very hard. Every morning she would wake up to a half lit room and try and remember where she was. Then she would hear Ian's soft breathing next to her and the last twenty years would come crashing down on her. The best twenty years of her life. She would sit on the side of the bed and wait for the patches of black to fade from her vision and then she would promise that she would be a better mother than ever. That she would love her children in a way her parents were never able to do, that she would stay with her children, and that she would do what was best for her children. But it seemed like she was failing. Every time she saw Arthur's shoulders slump and him wandering to a quiet corner to be alone, she felt that she had failed miserably.

"Your father will be home soon." Amy said. "Maybe he can talk to you or something." She stood up and walked back to the table where all her relatives and guest were sitting. Arthur continued to stare out the window. He knew he was disappointing his mom, I mean, it felt like she tried so hard to give them the best possible life, but he was ruining it. Him and his complaining about his name, his dad, his clothes, his glasses, his British accent, most of all his sister. It was like nothing was perfect in his world. At school he was able to escape from his sister, his father's watchful stare, and his mother's concerned eyes. But then he had to go to school and face Bryon and Jason and the jocks at his school. I mean, it wasn't like he didn't have a lot of friends, he had a lot. Five people claim to be his best friend, the whole school knew who he was, and he had a lot of friends in grades above him, but . . . .

That didn't seem like what he wanted. What did he want? He wanted to be left alone sometimes, to be allowed to venture into his own little world for some time without anyone bothering him. He didn't want to be invited to whoever-Timmy-Khan-is's party, or to hang out at the boring-ice-cream-shop-down-the-street. He liked to read too, because in books there was always a beginning, middle, and an end. And all three stages were always perfect like it was all meant to happen. The doorbell rang, cutting off his thoughts. He screamed that he would answer it, it was the least he could do for his mother.

His dad stood on the other side of the door. His perfect, rich, well groomed father who still used products to help his face stay clear of acne. The only father who would cry if he was forced to go into public with a pimple on his nose.

Ian Kabra stood straight and tall, no mustache and no beard, a hundred dollar hair cut, and a thousand dollar tux. He faced his son that stood straight and tall, small mustache (more like stubble) and no beard, free hair cut (personally done by his mother, Mrs. Amy Cahill Kabra), and his ten dollar hoodie that was probably five years old by now. Arthur just stood there, taking in his father's presence.

"Hey Artie!" Yuck. _What a stupid nickname. _He thought. _Almost as worse as my name, strike that, it is worse._ Ian ruffled up his hair and walked past him.

"Hi dad." Arthur mumbled and closed the door. Arthur fixed his hair then silently followed his father to the dining room where it looked like Uncle Dan had just cracked some hilarious joke. Everyone was laughing and a few people had tears in their eyes. _Weirdo', _Arthur thought. Everyone politely said hi to his father and Ian sat down for his dinner. Arthur too took his seat, but sat criss-cross-apple sauce so Hope wouldn't be able to kick him. Silently he grabbed some food to fill his plate and he began to eat it. Uncle Dan said another joke and the table filled with laughter. Hope stared at him, she wanted to kick him again just for upsetting Mommy, but her short legs couldn't reach his and she just sat there with a permanent frown on her face. _Oh well,_ she thought, _At least Daddy is home. _

"Hi Daddy!" She said, putting on her best I'm-innocent-look.

"Hey Hope." He replied. She watched her mother whisper something to her father. Hope watched as his smile disappeared and was replaced by a frown. Then, as quickly as it came it left, and he laughed as if Amy had said something funny.

"Arthur," Ian began, "I would like to speak to you." Hope glared at Arthur for taking up all of her "daddy time" but continued eating and listened to Uncle Dan's jokes that didn't seem so funny anymore.

"Arthur," Ian said as soon as the were far enough from their guests that they wouldn't hear. "You know your mother has been planning this dinner for a long time."

"Yeah . . . I know. And I'm ruining it with my attitude."

"Arthur. What's wrong."

Arthur stared at his father as if he was mental. _What's wrong? _He wanted to scream _You're asking ME what's wrong? Let's see, your hardly home, my name is sooo old, Hope is a brat, Mom is kinda too caring, Uncle Dan probably poisoned the pies . . . . _But when he thought about that, he realized that nothing really was wrong. He was made fun of at school, yeah, but he always had friends to back him up when Jason mocked him. Hope just wanted attention from him and it was a good thing that his mother was caring. Better too caring than not caring at all. And . . . .His father. Wasn't he taking time off right now to be with him?

"Nothing." Arthur replied, but Ian didn't believe him.

"You know your mother had a hard childhood. She grew up with an aunt that hardly wanted her, then she and your uncle joined something called the hunt for the 39 clues. It was a though life, and that is something she really doesn't want you and Hope to have. She loves you both very much." Ian replied, meaning every one of his words.

"I know that she loves us very much, but what about you? You're hardly home, and half the time you are your locked up away In some office. Mom looks really stressed, and what are you doing? Whenever I go to the principals office for getting into a fight, do you know who is the one always there, Mom. And when I had my piano recital, Mom. And . . . . and that time when I went away to some camp when I was seven and I was so scared to be away from home, do you want to know the one that was there, comforting me? Mom was, Uncle Dan and Hope were even there to see me off, but not you." All of his anger poured out into his words, and everything unspoken that had locked itself away in his mind finally came out. "What about that time I brought my girlfriend over for dinner, so she could meet my "parents", where were you?"

"I was at work. Getting money so you can live in this house, this neighborhood. . . ." Ian said, his voice trailing off.

_Oh yeah, love it here, _Arthur thought, but instead he said, "Sure." As sarcastically as he could. His father glared at him.

"Take a while to think about it, and when you're done, that's it. Think about it." He left and joined their guests.

And that was what he did, for a long time. Laughter coming from the dining room just seemed to go into one ear, then out the other. And that was all he did for a long time. He missed dessert, the family movie night, and then saying good-bye to everyone. _They must think I'm horrible. _He thought.

A few hours later, he heard someone approach him. The footsteps were too soft to be his father, they weren't skipping so it couldn't be Hope, and there's just one other person in this house. . . .

"Hey honey." Amy said.

"Hi Mom." He replied, his voice saying _hi! _end of story, don't bother me again. "I was thinking, maybe tomorrow Hope, you, and I could do something. There's a fair on the other side of town and Hope really wants to go. She wants you to go with her too."

"So she can bug me."

"So she can be with you. I'm not forcing you to go, I just want you to think about it."

* * *

"Cotton candy!" Hope screamed, running over to the vending machine. Ten seconds later, "Ice cream!" a few minutes later, "Popcorn!"

"No Hope. You've already had so much food." Amy replied, dragging Hope away from the popcorn machine. Hope made a pouting face and obediently followed her mother. She took a bite of her cotton candy, ripping it off of its stick like a bear would rip meat off a body. Angered, she ate the rest of her cotton candy in silence.

_This sucks, _Hope thought, but instead she said, "What do you want to do next?" Arthur, walking several paces behind them shrugged. He had been like that all day, walking, shrugging, frowning. The only thing she had heard him say was, "Hope, stop it!" _Boy, what a poop-head. _She thought.

"How about the Ferris wheel?" Amy said, pointing to the big round thing in front of them. Hope looked at it and instantly knew she would hate it.

"Sure." Arthur said, quickening his pace. He now walked side by side with them. Hope frowned. She wanted to say "now you talk?" but decided against it. _Mommy would not be happy with me. I have to be nice to Arthur today. Mommy says so. _She repeated it over and over until they had reached the line for the wheel. The line was a ten minute wait, and by the time they had reached the front of the line Hope's fears had magnified, and she gripped Amy's hand. Hesitantly, she took a step forward.

"No," she said, taking several steps back. "No wheel thingies."

"Why do you have to be such a baby?" Arthur asked.

"At least I'm not as big a baby as you!" she screamed. She had heard someone say that and hoped it was the right situation to say it. Apparently, but the face Arthur had made it was. Amy sighed.

"Well, I guess we can go on another time . . . ."

"No!" Arthur screamed. "The one ride _I_ want to go on, we can't because Hope is to big a baby." Amy bit her lip, torn between helping Arthur and Hope. There was really no way to win in this situation.

"I know," Hope said, "How about you two go on and I'll sit on the bench right there," she pointed to a blue painted bench to their right. "You'll still be able to watch over me in case bad people come, and I won't have to go on the wheel thing." _It's the best you're going to get Amy, _Amy thought, _take it or leave it. _

"Ok Hope, you have a deal. But you better not move anywhere, ok?" Amy said. _This is a horrible decision, why do my children have to be so difficult? _Amy kissed Hope on the forehead and stepped onto the platform where Arthur was already waiting. Hope walked over to the bench and sat down with a _huuummpp. _Arms folded and eyes narrow, she continued to watch as the Ferris wheel slowly rose until she could no longer tell who was in each car.

Arthur had to admit it that he felt guilty about leaving Hope alone on the bench. He also had to admit that the Ferris Wheel was the best part of the day so far. They were really high up and being able to see miles away made him feel like a God or something. Beside him he heard his mother sigh. Her eyes were closed and her head was leaning back, like she was taking in the wind.

"Happy you went on it?" He asked, although he already knew the answer. _Yes, _he thought in his best motherly tone, _it is nice, I just hope Hope is ok, I mean, she's out there all alone. _Then worry would seep into her thoughts and that would be all she thought about for the rest of the day. _Why'd I even bother asking?_

"Yes, it is nice. I'm glad you forced me to go on this, though I am a bit worried about Hope." Like planned, her smile turned into a frown and she peered out. "Wasn't Hope sitting on that blue bench?" Amy asked.

_No, it was green, _Arthur wanted to say sarcastically. "Yeah, why?"

"Cause I'm looking at a blue bench and there's some old lady sitting on it with a five-year-old, but no Hope."

_She probably wandered off to get some food. _Arthur said, trying to convince himself. Amy and Arthur's heart started to race, both their thoughts on Hope.

Now, when Arthur looked out of the Wheel, instead of seeing beauty and feeling like a God, everything was tainted with shame and guilt. _If anything happens to her, _he thought, _it would be my fault. _I mean, it wasn't like Hope to run off somewhere, she was actually a good kid. She listened for one thing. _This is so unlike Hope. _For the rest of the ride, Amy and Arthur sat in silence until they finally stopped and both of them rushed out. The first place they looked at was the blue bench. No Hope.

"Oh my God!" Amy screamed. She looked like she was going to break down, fall to the floor crying, screaming that she wanted her baby back. But no. This was his mother, Amy Cahill, and you would probably have more a chance seeing her with black hair then seeing her do that. It just wasn't her.

"Arthur, you go to the left and scream out Hope's name. If you find someone who is in charge of security ask them if they have seen her. I'll go the other way. Keep your phone on." With that she ran to the right, screaming Hope's name. _No chance I'm going to be seen screaming Hope. _Arthur thought silently and started walking. Hands in his pockets, hood up, he tried to make himself look "cool" while doing something so stupid. _We'll probably find her at an ice cream shop, or she'll jump out on me screaming "boo!" and then we can all go home. _Still, he walked like a man with a purpose and then hesitantly screamed her name. A few people turned in his direction but no one responded. He did it again, this time louder. He ran into one booth, but couldn't find anyone that matched her description. Franticly, he ran into another booth. There was a juggler juggling some bowling pins and several people surrounding him throwing spare change into his tin can on the floor. None of the onlookers looked a thing like Hope.

He entered another tent, and another, and another, but none had Hope in it. He had passed by several security guards, and he gave Hope's description to each one of them.

"She's about up to my chin with brown curls and a tiara on her head. She's wearing a pink dress and several necklaces that I think are fake. . . . "Arthur continued to describe his little sister, but when he sensed the security was getting bored he stopped, leaving the guard by his post next to apple bobbing booth. Over the next couple of minutes, all he could do was think. It wasn't like his legs weren't responding, he just didn't want them to move because, maybe it was because he didn't what to find out what had happened to his little sister.

What was wrong with someone that had a lot of energy? I mean, he was like that when he was a kid. Before, whenever his father came home he would struggle to gain his attention like Hope does, except as Arthur grew older he realized that gaining his father's attention was a lot like trying to fly to another planet. His father lived in his own little world, and it made him wonder why his mother even married him. His mother was fun and caring, while his father went to work everyday. It also made him think about how his father was back when they first met . . . .. How did they say they met? Oh yeah, at a park in Boston.

He forced his body to start to move as he slowly made his way back to the Ferris wheel where he hoped his mother would be waiting for him with Hope. He slowly made his way through the fair. It seemed like everyone but him was having the time of their life, throwing water balloons or riding on the rides . . .. Why couldn't his life be like that? Simple, easy, and carefree.

Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye he saw a little fake necklace on the floor, its string ripped in two and beads lying on the floor, but he recognized it easily. It was the same necklace that his mother had won for Hope at one of the dart popping booths. He wouldn't let himself think about the fact that hundreds of people had that same necklace; he wandered of in the directions the beads led to. There was a small yelp, and when he turned to the right he saw . . . .

He saw Hope and a huge teenager that was looming over her. _I knew Hope was too good to run off,_ Arthur confirmed in himself. His heart started racing as his mind danced through all the possibilities. One, Hope can escape while I fight the dude, two, I can run and get help but in the mean time that dude might beat the life out of her, I just fight while Hope screamed in my face, and fourth I just stand here and watch the events unfold. He didn't like the sound of any of them.

Without thinking, Arthur charged towards them, jumping onto the teenager's back. "Ahhh!" He screamed, holding onto his deathly grip. He tried to tear at the guy's hair but felt his grip on his loosen. "You . . . . stupid . .. moron . . . you . . . do," he held on as the guy swung him into the wall. He felt something crack as his body make contact, but still held on for dear life. _This guy isn't very smart . . ._ he thought. "You . .. do . . .not . . .mess. . . .with . . .. a . . . ." Whomp! He hit the wall again. A searing pain spread through his body, from his legs to his head. He tried to see where Hope had gone too, but he couldn't see her because his vision began to fog up. Maybe she left. Good for her, or she left to get help. "No . .. mess'n . . .. a . . . .Cahill." And then his world went black.

When his eyes opened the first thing he saw was Hope. She was grinning from ear to ear, just waiting to tell the story of their bravery. It turns out that after Arthur had jumped on the guys back, Hope had run off to get help, for she wasn't leaving her brother in the hands of a looser like that beefy teen. The first person she had seen was a young woman and she screamed at the top of her lungs what had happened, all of this had taken up a lot of time. By the time they had reached Arthur he had been hit against a wall twice like he was a rider on mustangs back, and his vision had become foggy. Security had also come and taken the teenager out; who it turns out was on drugs and was drunk at the same time. It was amazing what those things did to people. Made them want to attack princesses with fake necklaces and bouncy hair.

"You know," Hope said, smiling. "I think you get to take credit for this one, but trust me, next time, I get to be the hero." She flicked his head.

"Sure, you do that."

"Good night."

"You too," And then he fell back asleep knowing that things would get a lot better at his house.

* * *

A/N: so that's the end of that. I had really awesome time writing and I might do another story over the summer. Maybe. Or earlier.


	19. Authors Note

Thank you to everyone!

Ok I'm done with that.

(Sorry that I never bothered to do the authors note at the end of the story.)

So this is the thanks page and also the update page. Sort of. So I'm going to write the name of a new story and the summary I plan to write, and you guys can check it out. In the end, there is going to be several (I hope) titles on this page. I'm just going to keep updating this until I feel like starting a new one.

So . . . (drum roll)

* * *

The Dark Days (Hunger Games)

Before Katniss Everdeen and the first Hunger Games, the Districts fought what was known as the Dark Days. This is their story.

I stink at summaires. Sorry about that.


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